All About Survival
by Black Wolf-Dog
Summary: Through loss, grief, new enemies, new friends and a whole new adventure, he had become a constant. The first time introduced her to him, the second may open her eyes to what's worth fighting-and surviving-for. Travels to Sorna, beyond and back Billy/OC
1. A Little Adventure

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jurassic Park unfortunately...otherwise i'd have a spinosaurus and velociraptors in my yard to chase off those pesky people :)**

**This goes along with the movie of course. this was the topic chosen by voters in my poll, so go an vote! It has been reset. As always, reviews are wanted!**

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The forest was eerily quiet around the small group I was in. There was six of us, with two others like me. We were 'guards' of a sort, hired by people who wanted to explore the most dangerous places in the world with some protection. The three of us were armed with an assortment of knives and guns while the other three had only cameras and food.

Currently we were in the heart of the Amazon forest, surrounded by trees and predators. I glanced at the 5 following behind me to be sure no one was falling behind as we made our way out of the jungle. The trees were tall and dark, blocking out most of the sun's rays.

A howler monkey screeched out it's disapproval of us being there, effectively alerting all of the animals within several miles of our presence. I caught a glimpse of the loud animal among the foliage of the trees as he moved closer to the trunk of the tree he was in.

The sun was starting to set, but the only difference to us on the forest floor was the slight change in lighting, as it was steadily getting darker. A jaguar moved around in the lower branches of a nearby tree, watching as we passed by. But he was no threat to us right now, he was only interested in studying us, not in attacking. I stayed up for the first few hours of the night keeping watch while the others slept, unfortunately, nothing happened. I sighed, tugging my blonde hair out of its ponytail. This wasn't the life I wanted.

The days getting out were uneventful, to which I was slightly disappointed. Personally, I didn't think this was dangerous or exciting at all, I wanted something more. Something that would actually get my blood pumping and my adrenaline to spike. I wanted a real reason to need my weapons.

It was two weeks later that I finally got my wish. I was at the shooting range trying out new weapons with Cooper and Nash, the two men that had been with me on the Amazon trip, when a man approached us.

"Are you Cooper, Nash and Alexa?" the slightly balding man asked. After three nods of affirmative, he stuck out his hand to each of us, "Udesky, how are you interested in a once in a lifetime job?"

"What kind of job?" I asked, paying the ammunition clerk for the gun and bullets.

"My client, Paul Kirby from Kirby Enterprises needs to go to Isla Sorna to find his son, and he'd like your help." he responded.

My eyebrows shot up, Isla Sorna? The home to Ingen's dinosaurs? Now this was the kind of excitement I had been looking for. I glanced back at Nash and Cooper, both who had identical grins on their faces. "We'll do it." I agreed, shaking Udesky's hand again.

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"Well that's right, I got three of the very best men I could possibly find. No sir I haven't worked with them personally but believe me sir these men come highly recommended." Cooper pulled the trigger and the plane shot up into a ball of fire.

"Nothing to worry about sir, it's going to be a walk in the park." Udesky finished talking to whoever was on the phone, my guess was the man who had organized all of this. I grinned, turning back to the now destroyed plane and I had to admit to agreeing with him. It'd been two weeks since Udesky had come to us with the offer, and it was only two days from now that the plane would be taking off.

All of the gear that we would be needing was already packed onto the plane, and from what Udesky told me, we were only waiting for the Kirby's to get the guide for the trip. Though I had no idea what they were talking about, since I didn't think anyone in their right mind would give tour guides of Isla Sorna.

Two days later and I was loading up onto the plane, picking the seat in the back across from Cooper. Amanda and Paul Kirby-whom I had met before-were seated up front with Udesky and Nash sitting in the pilots seats. It was then that the 'guides' came one. An older man whom I recognized to be Alan Grant, the paleontologist who had been on the original Jurassic Park and a younger man who I had to admit was attractive with curly light brunette hair.

"Billy Brennan." He introduced himself to me, I grinned, taking his offered hand.

"Lexi." I answered as he sat in the seat in front of me.

The planes engines roared to life, drowning out whatever might have been said. It wasn't until we were leveled out in the air that roar died down. Billy and Alan were conversing about lucky bags and reverse Darwinism. I leaned over to Cooper.

"So do these guys know what we're going to do?" I asked in a hushed voice, making sure the two in question wouldn't hear me.

"No, they think we're doing a fly over tour, they don't know we're landing." he responded before putting on his sunglasses and leaning back in his chair.

"So how do you know the Kirby's?" Billy asked Cooper.

"Ah, through our church." I cocked an eyebrow at his answer. Not the most believable if you ask me.

Alan pulled his hat down over his eyes and leaned back, with the intent of going to sleep. Billy turned back towards me, "And you? How do you know the Kirby's?"

"Family friend." I responded, "So tell me Billy, why did you want to come on this little venture?" I asked in return.

"I'm a paleontologist like Alan." He said, nodding his head in the direction of the sleeping man, "Dinosaurs intrigue me, figured I'd take this chance to see them in the flesh." I nodded, he'd probably see them a lot closer than he ever wanted to before this trip was over. "And you? Why are you coming along?"

"I needed a change in the routine, some excitement. What better way than to see an island of dinosaurs?" he flashed a smile.

"Not much more exciting than seeing animals that died out millions of years ago." the look on his face reminded me of a boy on Christmas morning.

"No, no there isn't. With some luck we'll both get our fill of dinos on this trip." I couldn't help but match his grin.

He laughed, "With luck and Alan. If anyone knows where they'll be, he will. And we can fly right over their heads." I could have told him right then that this wasn't a tour trip, but in fact a rescue mission. I should of actually, but I held my tongue. Choosing instead to return my attention to my hands, that held my lucky knife that I kept with me no matter where I was going.

It was hours later that Nash called back that we were almost there, I immediately turned to the window, looking out towards the very green island. It was huge, larger than I thought it would be. Finding one small boy on this island was going to be extraordinarily difficult.

As we flew over a large meadow, dinosaurs of all sorts raced beneath us. Huge, towering brachiosaurs, stegosaurs and others that I had no idea what their names were or how to pronounce them. It was amazing, and we hadn't even landed yet!

"Cooper, Alexa, if you see anything, yell up." Udesky shouted from the front of the plane. We both knew he wasn't talking about dinosaurs, but signs of the boy we were looking for.

"Nah, I thought I'd keep it to myself." Cooper yelled back, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the man.

"Everyone, if you look out the left of the plane you can see a whole herd of brachiosaurs. In fact, you can see in the front of the group, the alpha male grazing there." Alan stated, pointing out the magnificent beasts. I didn't know how he could tell it was the alpha male, but I figured it was something he picked up from being a paleontologist and the previous island he was on.

"Udesky, Nash? How about up front, you guys see anything?" Mr. Kirby asked, I couldn't help but wonder if Dr. Grant and Billy would have come if they knew we were going to be landing.

"Nothing yet Mr. Kirby." Udesky responded.

"You mean-" Alan chuckled, "Mrs. Kirby, look. Out here you'll see a group of triceratops…" he was cut off by Nash as he announced quite loudly.

"Mr. Kirby, we have a landing strip up ahead. You want me to put it down?" I turned to Alan, who's face had a mixture of disbelief and anger.

"No, no. I told you, I want to circle first, see the whole island." Paul responded, completely unaware of the now pissed off man behind him.

"What do you mean set it down? You can't land here. What are you talking about?" I had a nagging feeling we should take his advice, but I knew nothing would stop the couple up front from landing and finding their son.

"Hold on, I can explain." Mr. Kirby was trying to say, but Alan was already unbuckling his seat belt.

"You cannot land on this island." he stated, outraged as he realized he'd been deceived.

"It's gonna be fine. You just don't understand." Amanda tried to interject, but the paleontologist would not be talked down.

"Are you crazy?" he asked, standing from his seat and trying to make his way to the front of the plane.

"Sit down, please." Paul asked, I noticed Cooper taking off his sunglasses and standing up as well. This was not about to end well. "Dr. Grant will you please sit down?" by now nearly everyone was standing, and I was barely able to jump up and grab Billy's arm to restrain him from jumping at Cooper when the man decked Alan.

He looked back at me and I shook my head, "Not worth the trouble." I said, shoving past Cooper, "Was that necessary?" I spat at him as I crouched next to the unconscious man.

"Yes." was his only reply and I scowled at him, wondering why in the hell I still worked with him after all these years.

It was then that the Kirby's decided to abandon circling the island and instead chose to land right there.

It was a rough ride, the runway was all gravel and filled with potholes. As soon as the plane stopped and the doors opened, I had to go into my work mode. Stepping out with Cooper, Nash and Udesky, the four of us suited up in our weapons' vests. Which held holsters for everything from knives and guns to grenades, the latter none of us had.

Amanda followed us out with a megaphone and as soon as she was a few steps away from the plane, started using it. "Eric? Eric? Ben? Eric?" she shouted, over and over.

As soon as the four of us were ready, we jogged off into the jungle to get up a safety perimeter.

"Oh Dr. Grant, are you all right?" I heard Mr. Kirby ask as the man came out of the plane. Whatever was said after I didn't hear as I reached the forest line and ducked into the trees.

I didn't go too far, I could still clearly hear Amanda on her megaphone. A deep growling rumbled through the woods and I clicked off the safety on my gun, keeping it aimed in front of me and my eyes flashing around. Trying to catch any sign of movement.

Mrs. Kirby's calls paused for a moment before I heard her start up again, "What?" she shouted. There was a low mumble in response.

I continued towards the growling, crouching down as I got closer. With slow, quiet movements, I pushed aside the large fern that was blocking my view of whatever was making the noise.

What in the seven hells was _that?_!

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**Black Wolf-Dog**


	2. Unhappy Landings

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jurassic Park unfortunately...otherwise i'd have a spinosaurus and velociraptors in my yard to chase off those pesky people :)**

**This chapter is dedicated to o.0 butterz 0.o for her review of Chapter 1! Thanks butterz!**

**Enjoy Unhappy Landings**

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The large dinosaur stood to it's full height and let out a huge roar that shook me to my core. With a quick aim, I fired at the animals head. It didn't do anything but shake it's head and start heading in my direction.

"Oh shit." I swore to myself, then mentally thanked God when the three other men came charging out of the bushes shooting at the carnivorous dinosaur. Its crocodile like jaws snapped towards Cooper and I wasted no more time in charging back towards the plane. Small guns were no match for this thing.

I could hear the men close behind me and I knew they had the same idea I did. We _had _to get off this island and back into the air.

"We have to leave! We have to leave now!" Udesky shouted as we raced past Amanda. I couldn't have said it better myself.

"What's going on?" Paul asked, but no one paid him enough attention to answer him.

"Get in the plane! Get in the damn plane!" Nash ordered urgently as he raced in himself.

With some luck he might be able to get the engines going and get the plane off the ground before that _thing_ caught up to us.

Amanda soon followed and Paul was close behind her. I raced in after him as Billy came behind me. "What about the other guy?" he asked. _Shit,_ I thought, Cooper had fallen behind. But now wasn't a time to worry about one man when everyone's life was at stake. We could come back and get him when we knew the coast was clear.

"Cooper's a professional. He can handle himself." Udesky stated, ushering the Alan and Billy to stop standing on the stairs and get in the plane. Another loud roar filled the air, along with multiples gunshots that I knew came from Cooper's favorite gun. "Get in the plane! Hurry!" Udesky was done waiting and began pushing at the two. Thankfully they finally got all of the way into the plane and to their seats.

Nash had the plane's engines running and by the time Udesky had the door closed, the plane was in motion, turning to face down the runway. The plane quickly picked up speed. And I had to hold onto my seat to keep from being thrust out of it at the bouncing of the plane along the gravel road.

I squeezed my eyes shut, praying we got out of this alive. "What are you doing?" it was all a mumble to my mind at the moment, but the words that came through loud and clear came from Alan.

"That's Cooper." I snapped my eyes open and looked out the front of the plane. Sure enough, Cooper was standing the in the middle of the runway. Weaponless and a bloody arm hanging uselessly at his side.

"Oh God." I muttered under my breath. I felt sick to my stomach, we were going to run him over if he didn't move.

"Oh my God!" Nash shouted as the huge dinosaur we had seen before burst from the trees, snatching up Cooper as he went. Nash pulled up on the plane, trying to get high enough to avoid the huge creature. But it wasn't quick enough. The nose of the plane clipped the dinosaur's back, blood splattering the plane's windshields.

Udesky and Nash were shouting, but I couldn't understand a word they were saying over the alarms. Suddenly, instead of seeing sky out the front of the plane, all I saw was trees. My grip on my seat tightened. We were going to crash, and we were going to die. With each scrap against a tree or branch, the plane jerked, at one point it spun nearly 90 degrees as a wing was snapped off.

For a brief moment, I wondered if this was how cowboys felt at the rodeo, when they had to ride that bull for eight seconds. It was only now that I understood how such a short amount of time could feel like forever.

Finally the plane shuddered to a stop and I had to take several deep breathes to try and get my heart rate back down to a reasonable level. I now understood the meaning of _be careful what you wish for_. I wanted adventure and excitement sure. But not this.

"Everyone just stay put." Udesky ordered from the front, trying to get radio contact with anyone. Cooper was dead. Cooper was _dead_. I let my head fall forwards onto the back of the seat in front of me. I'd never known anyone who had died, let alone see them _killed._ By an animal that by all rights shouldn't exist no less.

I felt a hand on my back and I looked up to see Billy, trying to smile reassuringly at me. With another deep breath I shook my head. Pulling my thoughts and emotions back in order. This was real and happening now. Cooper was dead and there was nothing I could do about it. I needed to focus on the now if I wanted to live long enough to fret about what happened later.

Dr. Grant, Billy and Amanda were at the back of the plane, with Alan trying to open the door. With several pushes, it only opened about a foot. And when he closed the door, he told us news we really didn't want to hear. "We haven't landed yet."

Paul joined us as we tried to figure out a way to get out of the plane and to ground safely. Along with how the hell we were now going to get off this godforsaken island.

The plane jerked and fell forwards onto Billy, who kept me from falling with a steady arm. I cast him a grateful smile as Paul asked what we were all thinking, "What was that?"

Suddenly, Amanda started screaming, pointing towards the front of the plane. We all turned to look, but nothing was there. Paul was trying to calm her down, and she did stop yelling. But as soon as she did the plane jerked forward again.

The nose started sliding down, and we soon found it hard to stay standing as it continued to tilt down. "Hang on everyone!" Nash shouted from the front. Hang on to what?

Udesky and Nash were yelling, and suddenly the front of the plane was gone. Amanda started sliding down the floor as the two pilots tried to make a run for the back of the plane.

It only took a second for me to realize why, as the crocodile-nosed dinosaur growled and thrust it's snout into the plane. Its massive jaws clamped down on Nash's leg and pulled him from the plane. No matter what I tried to do, I couldn't make my body react. I was frozen in place and could only watch as the dinosaur dropped Nash and then killed the second of my friends today.

It didn't take him long to finish off the ex-army man. He raised his head again and roared, preparing to take another one of us from the plane.

We all rushed towards the back of the plane, trying to get as far from those killer teeth as possible.

All of our weight at the back of the plane was too much though, and we soon found ourselves falling towards the earth. With a thud, we hit land, and the plane fell over onto its side. There wasn't any time to do anything before huge, clawed and scaled feet passed by the opening of the plane.

Suddenly, a massive force hit the side of the plane, sending it rolling across the ground. I can now say I knew what my clothes felt like in the dryer as I was slammed around. With some luck, I was able to grab onto one of the seatbelts and held on as the plane continued to roll. It didn't stop me from flipping around, but at least I wasn't flying around as much.

The plane slammed to a stop as it hit a tree, ending its roll by placing us right side up again. I groaned, my body laying limp against the seat I had landed on. "Mrs. Kirby, come back!" Dr. Grant shouted, and I lifted my head up enough to see that the crazy woman had run out of the plane. I glanced out the window opposite of the seat I was sitting in and could clearly see her reasoning, though there was no way any of us could outrun that thing.

Paul ran out after her, but soon leapt back into the plane with the other two right behind him.

The plane rolled again, sending me crashing onto the roof that was now the floor. Billy landed right next to me. And then the floor was getting closer and closer. Oh lord the dinosaur was crushing the plane!

I buried my head under my arms as glass went flying from the shattering windows, careful to stay parallel to the isle way, so as to not be crushed by the seats. The plane rolled again, only enough to put it on its side.

I glanced out the window that was above my head in time to see a close up of the monsters muzzle before it was thrust through the side of the plane. With a roar he pulled his head out before plunging it back in again, creating a bigger hole. When he pulled his head out again, Billy grabbed my arms, hoisting me up and dragging me to the other side of the plane where Alan and Amanda already were.

Paul made a risky move by diving past the hole while the animal's head was still inside, and he got a bit of Nash's blood on his back for it. I turned in time to grab a hold of Udesky's weapon's vest and help drag him over. Alan wasted no time waiting, "Follow me! This way!" he shouted, getting on his feet and charging out of the plane.

We all followed, and unfortunately that included the dinosaur, who-once he realized there was no one in the plane-turn to come after us. He roared as we ran into a small clearing, quickly gaining ground. My vision in my left eye blurred, getting a red haze over it. I ignored it, blinking and swiping at my eye while trying to avoid tripping over the numerous bushes and roots that littered the ground. "In here!" Alan shouted, turning towards the thickest part of the forest.

There was a loud _thud_ and I chanced a glance back to see the dinosaur with it's head stuck between two trees. He let out an angry roar at his escaping prey. We didn't slow down though. It would only take a moment for him to get himself loose and come after us again. The hanging branches seemed to reach out for us, snagging on clothing and scrapping at exposed skin.

We ran for what felt like miles over the uneven terrain, the rough land making the going slow. Finally, as we reached an area of tall grass and ferns, we slowed to a stop to catch our breath. I was gasping for air, hunched over as I tried to get my breathing under control.

I swiped at my eye again, hissing when I felt the large cut over my eyebrow. It was quiet for a moment as everyone panted for air, "I think we lost him." Alan stated.

"Great." I said, slightly sarcastic, "Now what the hell do we do?"

"Follow me." he responded, taking up the lead, I followed next to Billy, wondering how or if we were going to get off this island alive.

We wondered through the thick green leaves for a few moments until Alan parted a group that revealed a large, bloody carcass. I couldn't tell what type of dinosaur it used to be, but I didn't really want to meet any of its living relatives.

"It's okay, it's dead." genius Alan, I thought even with the exposed ribs it was still alive and about to eat us, I couldn't help but think sarcastically. I guess it was my defense mechanism for the utter terror I felt.

I'd wanted this dinosaur adventure, but I wanted to have my guns and my buddies with me. Not be stranded out here without any weapon besides a four inch pocket knife.

A growl startled me out of my thoughts and a dinosaur I recognized from pictures raised his head up from the other side of the carcass. "Nobody move a muscle." Alan ordered. The Tyrannosaurus roared, blood dripping from its long teeth.

Ha, stay still, yeah right. The three behind me took off immediately, and I soon followed them with Billy. I figured Alan would be right behind us once he realized we hadn't followed his command.

So there we were running for our lives from a should-be-extinct-dinosaur…again. Udesky screamed and I turned to face the way I was going only to slam my feet into the ground and skid to a halt. Towering over us was the huge sailed dinosaur from before.

The group split, going around either side of the larger animal. I ran, only turning when the others slowed. The two dinosaurs were fighting each other, but it didn't take long for the sailed creature to wrap its jaws around the Tyrannosaurus' neck. With a twist, the so called lizard king's neck snapped. Alan barely made it out of the way in time to avoid being crushed by the now dead dinosaur.

This was turning out to be more than I bargained for. It was an adventure that I wanted to be over. Sure I was getting the adrenaline kick I'd been wanting, but the price was too high. Already we'd lost two people, who was next?

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	3. The Truth Comes Out

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jurassic Park unfortunately...otherwise i'd have a spinosaurus and velociraptors in my yard to chase off those pesky people :)**

**This chapter is dedicated to: o.0 butterz 0.o, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, and ILuvOdie! Thanks so much for your reviews!**

**I am on vacation right now, but decided to throw this up since I got more reviews! Enjoy Chapter 3!**

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It was well over an hour and several miles later that our group slowed and finally stopped. Paul Kirby turned to say something to Alan but was met with a fist slamming into his face, sending him falling back into the vine covered tree behind him.

"No, no, no. Please, please don't. Stop, please." Amanda jumped in front of Paul, raising up an arm to try to calm Alan enough so that he wouldn't punch her husband again.

"It's time you did some explaining, Mr. Kirby." Alan demanded, rubbing his knuckles. I knew what it was like to punch someone, it hurt like hell.

He nodded before attempting to stand up again. My left eye went blurry again and I inwardly cursed. I had forgotten all about that cut. Before I could rub at my eye, a hand grabbed my arm. I looked up with surprise. Billy let go of my arm, taking a scrap of cloth that had torn from his shirt and dabbed at my forehead with it.

I hissed between me teeth when he touched the wound, but he didn't stop until the blood was mostly cleared. "Not too deep, but head wounds do bleed a lot." he stated. "There, that should do for now. Looks like the bleeding is about to stop." he stepped away from me as Paul pulled out his wallet, flipping through until he found what he was looking for.

"Thanks Billy." he nodded in response before stepping up next to Alan as he examined the picture in the wallet Paul had given him.

"Our son, Eric, he was parasailing out here when he went missing." Mr. Kirby started his explanation, "We called everyone. We did everything we could. No one would help us. The Costa Rican government said this is a no-fly zone." with good reason too. Alan handed the wallet off to Billy as he turned to walk a few steps away.

"The U.S. Embassy-that's _our_ U.S. Embassy-told us we should accept the inevitable. Can you believe that?" Paul continued with his explanation. I couldn't help but agree with the Embassy, the chances of Eric being alive were slim to none, just like the chances of use ever getting off this island.

"You let a 12 year old go parasailing alone?" Billy asked, I turned to the Kirby's, curious about the answer myself.

"No!" Paul responded.

"He wasn't alone." Amanda continued in a much more subdued voice, "He was with a friend of mine."

"Ben Hildebrand." I couldn't help but detect a bit of bitterness in Paul's voice as he said the man's name.

"Paul and I divorced over a year ago." Mrs.-well I guess it's just Amanda now since in no longer knew her last name-explained further. I looked over at Udesky, wondering if he knew this. He looked less surprised than I did.

"So why me?" Alan asked.

"He said we needed someone who'd been on the island before." Mr. Kirby answered. And I wondered who this _he_ was.

"Yes, but I did not tell you to kidnap somebody." Udesky answered, ah, so it was him.

"I have never been on this island." Dr. Grant stated, and by the look on his face I knew he was telling the truth, and that he never wanted to be on this island either.

"Sure you have. You wrote that book." Paul cut in, stepping forward a bit. I looked at him, did he really not know what island this was?

"That was Isla Nublar, this is Isla Sorna, Site B." Billy explained, a slight grin at the ridiculousness of it all on his face. A mix up of island names was what landed him here in the first place.

"You mean there are two islands with dinosaurs on it?" Udesky asked uneasily. And I couldn't help but grin, barely holding back a laugh. This whole situation was ridiculous! Here we were in the middle of an island filled with creatures that shouldn't exist, looking for a boy that was most likely dead, and in the end, we were probably all going to die!

"Alright, you stay out of this!" Paul snapped. Hey, you couldn't blame the guy for being worried, hell, for all he knew we could have landed on the wrong island.

"So how long have they been missing?" Alan, ever the voice of reason, cut in, returning us all back to the subject we had been talking about.

"Eight weeks." Paul stated questioningly, turning towards Amanda.

"Almost eight weeks now." She confirmed. I almost groaned. There was no way in hell that boy was still alive after all this time.

Alan took a deep breath, "Billy," the younger man stepped up, following as the paleontologist started walking, "We go back to the plane and salvage what we can, then we make for the coast."

"Dr. Grant. We aren't leaving this island without our son." Paul stated and I knew the saying 'a parent would do anything for their child' was true.

"Then you can go and look for him, or you can stick with us as long as you don't hold us up. Either way, you probably won't get off this island alive." Now I wished Alan wasn't being the voice of reason, because even though I had been thinking it, hearing the words coming out of his mouth made it official. We were going to die on this dinosaur-infested spit of land.

I was at a loss of what to do as Alan and Billy headed off in the direction of the plane while the other three stayed put. Alan's plan was the smartest, but he wasn't paying for me to be here. So I stood still and watched as they walked away.

"So…what do we do?" Paul asked, he wasn't the leading type, and I knew if he led us a different way we would be dead before nightfall.

"We search for your son." Udesky answered, "In the direction that they're going." he pointed towards the two men and I had to admit, smartest thing I've heard.

"Excellent, excellent." Paul stated, much to my relief, before dashing off after the two. The rest of us were quick to follow.

Lady Luck was smiling down on us as the trip back to the plane was uneventful. That we even found the plane was lucky. Normally I was good with directions, but I don't tend to look at landmarks when I'm running for my life.

Everyone split once we reached the plane, looking for their things among the wreckage. Nearly everything that had been in the plane lay scattered across the ground. I glanced over as Udesky picked up a bent gun. I scrounged through my things until I found a black tank top that hadn't been destroyed. All of my guns were broken and bent and utterly useless, though I was able to find a few of my knives and my backpack. Thankfully, the water bottle I had in there hadn't been punctured, so the water was still in it.

I walked over to Billy once all of my things that could be salvaged were packed into my bag. He was fiddling with his camera, probably seeing if it still worked.

"What the hell is that thing?" I asked as we both looked down at the giant footprint left in the mud. Billy raised his camera and took a picture of the print.

"How would you classify it Billy?" Alan asked as he came over, brushing off his hat as he did so.

"Well, it's a super predator." he responded. I ran my fingers along the edges of the print. Hopefully we wouldn't see this dinosaur again.

"Suchimimus. Snout." Billy guessed as he used his hand to demonstrate a long snout.

Alan shook his head, "No, think bigger."

"Baryonyx?" he guessed again.

"Not with that sail." Alan responded, fiddling with something in his hand. "Spinosaurus Aegypticus." he answered, holding up a tooth that must have been ripped from the dinosaurs mouth during the attack on the plane.

Billy took the tooth, turning it over in his hand, "I don't remember that on Ingen's list." he handed to tooth back to Alan.

"That's because it wasn't on their list. Makes me wonder what else they were up to." Alan explained.

"Lovely." I muttered to myself. If Ingen wasn't recording every specie they were recreating, who knew what else was on this island.

The three of us looked up at Mr. Kirby as he struggled to get the other strap of his backpack over his shoulder. The looks on their faces saying they suspected him of lying about more than just what they were doing here.

While the two men walked towards Paul, I headed back over to Udesky, who was still trying to find a usable gun.

"I think the Spinosaurus wrecked them all." I stated, tossing away a useless rifle. Udesky sighed, running a hand over his nearly bald head.

"This was supposed to be a walk in the park." he stated.

I let out a short laugh, "And it's been everything but." I turned back to the three other men as Alan's question caught my attention.

"There's no such thing as Kirby Enterprises, is there?" he asked.

"It's Kirby Paint and Tile Plus. The plus stands for bathroom fixtures. We're in the Westgate Shopping Center, Enid, Oklahoma." he answered as Udesky and I walked over to him.

"So I don't suppose that check you wrote us is any good." Billy asked. I looked to Paul.

"This is good. This is good." Alan said while Paul fumbled on about how he would come up with the money. Well, if his check to them wasn't any good, that meant mine wasn't any good either. At least if we did split up it wouldn't be hard for me to choose which way to go anymore. "Here we are in the worst place in the world and we're not even being paid." he said as he grabbed his bag, throwing over his shoulder as he walked away.

Don't think I could have worded it better, I thought as I followed. Paul and Amanda were the last to come. "Now, wait, fellas. Hold on. I'll make this up to you. If you ever do a bathroom or a kitchen…" he trailed off.

"That's if we even live to need one." I grumbled to myself.

"So now that we all know why we are really here in the first place, why are you here?" Billy asked as he fell into step next to me.

"Same job as Nash and Cooper, keep you guys safe." he snorted and I couldn't help but grin, "Yeah, the guns were supposed to work on those things."

"So why did you agree to come if you knew we would be landing?" he questioned, sweeping a branch out of our way.

"Same reason I told you on the plane. Following tourists through the Amazon just wasn't doing it for me. The most exciting it got was if a jaguar or anaconda got curious about how someone tasted. Before this, worst injury that's ever happened on the job was someone had a finger bit off." thinking about past jobs had me thinking about Nash and Cooper, ruthlessly, I shoved those thoughts out of my mind.

"Eric!" Amanda yelled out randomly, almost making me jump.

"Quiet." Alan ordered, his patience with the Kirbys running dangerously thin.

"Would you stop that? Dr. Grant says this is very dangerous territory." Paul said, since leaving the plane, he'd been trying to stay out of the paleontologists way and doing everything he said.

"Look, maybe we should split up or something, we could cover twice as much ground." Amanda suggested, tripping over the numerous roots.

"Dr. Grant says that's a bad idea."

"Dr. Grant, Dr. Grant says…" Amanda mumbled. Their constant bickering was getting on my nerves

"Well what's the good of hiring an expert if we're not gonna use his advice?" He asked.

"Yeah, except Dr. Grant isn't looking for Eric. He's looking for the coast."

"Ok fine, go ahead and scream. And then when that…tricycloplots attacks you, don't come crying to me." I groaned, praying that the two would stop, otherwise I might just go find that tricycloplots and feed them to it.

"Don't worry about that." Amanda mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What did you say?"

"Never mind." oh lord, they were like two little kids. Rubbing my temple, I tried to ward off the coming headache. But unless those two shut the _hell_ up, it was going to hit me full force.

"What did you say?"

"God Paul, just drop it."

"If we split up, I'm going with you guys." Udesky spoke up from beside me.

I glanced over at him, towards the still bickering couple and then to Billy, "Ditto."

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**Thanks for reading! Please drop a review and let me know what you thought of Chapter 3! I am leaving Yellowstone for home sometime tomorrow, and we'll be taking our time so it may be a day or two. **

**Review please!**

**Black Wolf-Dog**


	4. Raptor

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jurassic Park unfortunately...otherwise i'd have a spinosaurus and velociraptors in my yard to chase off those pesky people :)**

**This chapter is dedicated to: o.0 butterz 0.o, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, and Angelixlight! Thanks so much for your reviews! Enjoy Chapter 4!**

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We continued walking for a ways before a flash of red in the trees caught my attention. I wasn't the only one who saw it as Alan-who was leading the group-changed direction to head straight towards it.

As we got closer, I realized it was a parachute hung up in the tree. "ERIC!" Amanda and Paul both started shouting.

I looked up at the parachute as Alan tried to get the couple to stop. It was a tangled mess in the tree, but chute didn't seem torn.

"Hey, guys." Udesky got our attention as he pulled something out of the bushes. It looked like a video camera. The Kirby's ran over to him, Amanda clutching a lifejacket in her hand.

I turned back to the chute, wondering if we would be able to get it out of the tree. "Where were you on that one, Ma?" a distorted voice resounded. Alan, Billy and I turned to the other three, where they had gotten the video camera to play.

We stepped over to them, watching as the Eric on the video threw a Frisbee to the camera holder. "I shot this the morning they disappeared." Amanda stated, hugging the life vest to her chest.

The video continued on, changing to the landscape of the island. Suddenly the camera zoomed down on the boat below them, torn up and covered in blood. The camera skipped and Eric and Ben were suddenly in the tree that was directly behind us. Eric dropped to the ground before the video cut off.

"He's alive. I know he's alive. We're gonna find him." Paul stated. As much as I doubted it, I really hoped it was true. At least we knew he made it to the ground safely.

Billy, Alan and I turned back to the chute still hung up in the tree. "Can you fly one of those?" Alan asked.

"Maybe, as long as the sail's not torn." Billy responded. I figured he probably had parachuting experience before, he looked the type to do stuff like that.

"Well let's take it." Alan said, walking towards the chute. "If we spot a plane it might be a good way to get attention." the three of us grabbed onto the chute and started pulling. Thankfully it started coming down easily. "Pull it over this way." he ordered when the chute snagged on a branch.

There was a crunching of breaking branches and suddenly Amanda was screaming. I looked over and had the urge to vomit. The top half of a decomposing body of who I could only guess to be Ben had fallen into Amanda, the multiple wires wrapping around her and preventing her from getting away quickly.

Immediately, everyone jumped forwards to try and help get her free. When she finally was, she turned and ran off through the trees.

"Get her back, Mr. Kirby." Alan demanded, to which Paul obliged, going after his ex-wife who was still screaming.

Alan pulled on the ropes and the body dropped, flies going everywhere. The smell was rancid and it was nearly impossible to breath without gagging.

Billy and Alan worked on getting Ben's remains out of the rigging while I continued to pull the rest of the chute out of the tree. I didn't want to be anywhere that corpse.

Once Ben was free, we stretched out the chute, checking over it for any rips. There wasn't any thankfully. "Parachuted before?" I asked Billy as we started folding up the chute.

He nodded, "Several times actually, you?"

I barely held back a laugh, "I'm not jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft thank you."

He grinned as we started to roll it up, "I'll have to take you then sometime, you don't know what you're missing out on."

I forced the grin to remain on my face, we had to get off this island first, and it wasn't looking good for us.

Paul's voice echoed through the forest, "Dr. Grant! You should come look at this!" Alan stood up, pausing a moment before heading in the direction of Mr. Kirby's voice. Udesky hesitated only a second before taking off after him.

"I think he's afraid to be in the smaller group." I stated as I continued to help Billy roll up the chute.

"Do you blame him?" he asked, pressing down on the chute to get any air out of it.

"No, not really." I passed the rigging over to him as he slid it on. The chute was completely rolled up now. Billy stood, nodding his thanks as I handed him to chute to pack back into its bag.

"Raptor." We heard Alan whisper as we came around a tree. Billy and I paused, looking at the ground where there were several nests filled with eggs.

Raptor could only mean Velociraptor, an animal I had no desire to meet. "Move, now." Alan commanded urgently, and we hurriedly walked away, keeping a much faster pace than before.

Suddenly Alan stopped, "Where's Billy?" I stopped too and turned around, the man was no where to be seen. _Shit._ Did the raptors pick him off?

Alan hurriedly went back the way we had just come. "What are you doing?" he demanded when Billy turned up out of the bushes. I released the breath I had been holding, thanking God he was alive.

"I was photographing the nest." he explained.

Knowing he was alive was a relief, and I turned back the way we had been going as Alan continued to talk to him. We reached the crest of a hill and could see a compound nearly overrun by the forest.

"I bet you Eric's in there. Don't you think? I' bet my bottom dollar." Paul stated as he charged ahead of us, taking the lead.

"What do you think it is?" Billy asked as he started down the hill.

"As far as I'm concerned," Udesky started from behind me, "It's the Four Seasons."

It only took us about twenty minutes to make it all the way down the hill and to the compound. The place was a mess, all of the vehicles' windows were shattered, the filthy Ingen sign was nearly covered over by ferns.

The inside of the compound was no better, vines grew through the broken windows, leaves covered the floor and counters. Nearly everything was knocked over. It looked like the dinosaurs had raided it after Ingen cleared out.

I glanced behind us towards the forests, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. It felt like we were being watched, which we most likely were, but by what?

"Eric!" Paul shouted, his voice echoing through the building.

"Dammit!" I growled, did these people never learn?

"Paul! Don't!" Amanda urged, at least she seemed to finally get the hint.

Paul turned and something got his attention, we all turned to see what it was. A phone! Thank the lord a phone! I crossed my fingers, praying it would work. Amanda took a step towards it, "Oh what the hell."

She picked it up, placing it to her ear, but quickly set it back on the counter. Damn, no luck. We continued deeper into the building, turning into a hall that had a couple of vending machines. It was then that I realized how hungry I was. None of the food brought with us had been salvageable, and I hadn't eaten since we'd originally taken off.

Paul dug through his pockets as Billy and I walked by him. "Who's got some change? It only takes quarters." I couldn't help to stare at him. The phone didn't work, why would the vending machines? And why even bother putting money into them? Billy took a step back from the machine and I stepped out of his way, thinking the same thing. Kick the damn glass down. "I got like….a buck ten." Paul continued.

Getting a quick start, Billy jumped forward, slamming his foot into the glass, which shattered on impact. Reaching in, he pulled out handfuls of candy, tossing them to everyone as we walked out of the room. I grinned, M&M's, just what I needed right now. I glanced back at Mr. Kirby as he replaced the money back into his pockets and kicked at the glass in front of him.

It didn't break. But judging by Paul's groan, it did hurt. We continued through the halls until we reached what I guessed to be the center of the building. It was a huge room, filled with arm-like machines hanging from the ceiling, each over a circular table covered in large eggs shells.

I picked up one of the eggs, turning it over in my hand. "This is how you make dinosaurs?" Amanda asked.

"No." Alan responded, "This is how you play God." I set the egg back on the table as a crunching sound filled the room.

"Nice." I stated as spotted the source of the noise, Paul had stepped on an egg shell.

Billy's camera flashed as he photographed the fetus in the tube. The thing was floating in a green liquid with multiple wires connected to its body.

"What do you suppose it is?" I asked, looking closely at the thing.

Billy shrugged, "Who knows, maybe another killer Ingen was trying to recreate without telling anyone." he stated bitterly and I couldn't blame him. Amanda continued on down the line, looking into each of the tubes.

I glanced down at the last one and froze. "Billy." he turned to me but I couldn't say anything else. The large, multi-colored head that appeared to be in the last tube didn't sit right with me. The tubes weren't big enough to fit the body of whatever the head belonged to.

I shook my head. It was dead and probably just left there for some reason. "Nevermind." I answered Billy's questioning stare as I turned to walk away from the tubes. Suddenly there was a noise I'd never heard before and Amanda was screaming again.

I spun around, my stomach leaping into my throat, the head was reaching between two of the tubes, trying to get Amanda with its razor sharp teeth.

Amanda jumped away from the pole that was blocking her retreat backwards and we all dashed towards the end of the room. The raptor pulled its head back and ran on the opposite side of the tubes, leaping in-between empty tubes that broke enough to let the creature through.

We charged through the halls, skidding around corners and through doors. It appeared that we ended up in what used to be a holding facility. Each wall lined with ceiling high cages.

"This way! This way!" Paul shouted as we started down another aisle. The door at the end promising a way out.

The raptor behind us screeched and the sound only urged me to go faster. "It's locked!" Paul shouted when he tried the door and it failed to open.

We all turned to go back the way we had come when the raptor slid to a stop. He turned to face us and let out a growl. "This way! This way!" Udesky yelled, urging us into the cage on our left. I ran in after him and Alan, Paul right behind me. I looked over to Billy and Amanda as the raptor charged down the aisle. They were trying to get the door to close when the raptor rammed into it.

He pushed his front claws and his head against the door, slowly pushing them back. "Hey! Over here! Hey!" Udesky and Paul were shouting, trying to get the raptors attention. Suddenly, the animal stopped trying to bite through the metal door and looked up, where the door was not as tall as the ceiling.

He started climbing the door, lifting both feet off the ground. My God, raptors were _smart_!

As soon as his feet were off the ground, "Push! Push!" Amanda shouted, and the two slammed the door back against the metal wired walled. The gate finally latched, effectively trapping the dinosaur.

We burst out of the cages and started running down the hall when the raptor started making a cawing noise. Alan stopped, "My God, he's calling for help."

Well shit, if he's calling for help than that meant his pack would soon be after us as well. _Just _what we needed. More bloody Velociraptors.

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think!**

**Black Wolf-Dog**


	5. Separation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jurassic Park, if i did, i would have a Spinosaurus and Velociraptors in my yard to chase off those pesky people ;)**

**Sorry this is so short, i promise the next chap will be longer! School is starting again (blegh) so i won't be able to write as much as i'll want to. On the plus side it's my senior year! yay!**

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The cawing of the raptor behind us continued as we raced towards the jungle. We hit a break in the trees where a large meadow opened up before us. It was filled with dinosaurs. Thankfully they were all plant eaters though, or else we would all be screwed.

"Into the herd!" Alan yelled. The large animals jerked up at our approached and soon were stampeding across the land. I guess they thought we were the predators, or perhaps they sensed the raptors behind us. It was crazy, trying to run and not trip, while also avoided getting crushed beneath the giant animals running around us, slamming into each other.

"Head for the trees!" Alan's voice rang out through the pounding of large feet. Thank god, running among these things was like running with a herd of elephants.

Suddenly, the ground was no longer under my feet, but under my whole body as I rolled. I looked up, one of the dinosaurs was careening straight for me.

I could only watch as it came closer and closer. Its foot came down, barely missing me by an inch. As it continued past, its toe clipped my side, rolling me over several times. I hurriedly forced my feet under me and got up running.

Somehow I managed to get right behind Billy, and I followed him as we ducked through the trees, trying to keep moving.

Billy stopped and I nearly ran into him. I was about to ask why he had stopped running when he turned and slammed me up against the tree we were next to. There was no need to ask now, as I heard the clear sound of the Velociraptor mere feet away. Billy stayed pressed up against me as I held my breath, waiting for the raptor to discover we were there.

Thankfully, whatever the raptors were saying to each other was enough for the animal to not notice us, and instead run through the brush and disappear.

Once we were sure he was gone, I released the breath I had been holding. "Get up the tree." Billy ordered, and I didn't hesitate to do as he told. The vines provided fairly easy climbing, and it only took us a moment to reach a safe height.

Billy climbed out onto one of the branches, searching for the others. "Mr. Kirby!" he shouted.

Thankfully, we got a response from a tree not far from ours. In fact, it was close enough and the branches were thick enough we could get over there fairly quickly. "Is Alan with you?" Billy asked. And I realized Alan and Udesky were missing.

"Come on." Billy urged me, tugging on my arm. He led the way across the branches, keeping a secure grip on my waist as we crossed over to the tree the Kirbys were in.

"Oh my God." Paul stated, looking towards the ground.

We followed his gaze, "Mr. Udesky? Mr. Udesky?" Amanda shouted. The man lay on the ground, blood pooling on his back.

"He's dead." Billy confirmed my thoughts.

But he wasn't, there was a low groan and Udesky's right arm moved slightly. He was trying to tell us he was alive. "Oh my God, no he's not." Amanda said, immediately standing and trying to make her way back down the tree.

"No, wait!" Billy shouted, reaching out to stop her, "Something's not right."

"We gotta help him." Paul reasoned.

"We have to get him off the ground." I stood as well, following Amanda.

"Lexi, Amanda, don't!" Billy tried to stop us, but it didn't work.

Amanda grabbed onto a thin branch to steady herself when it snapped, sending her falling from the branch. "Amanda!" Paul shouted, trying and failing to catch her.

She was able to catch herself by her legs on the last branch before hitting the ground. Suddenly, two raptors charged from the bushes, leaping up and snapping at the woman. "Hold on!" Paul shouted, leaping down from branch to branch.

My god these animals were smart. Billy and Paul finally reached Amanda and pulled her back onto the branch.

"They set a trap. They actually set a trap." Billy said while the two raptors looked up at us.

Raptors cawing in the distance caught their attention. The grey, who I guessed to be the female, turned and left. The male looked up at us before turning back to Udesky. Grabbing his head in his jaws, he twisted, snapping the man's neck. Then looked back up at us as if to say _haha_ before turning and following the female.

I turned, burying my head into Billy's chest. That was the third person I'd seen killed today. When was it going to stop?

I took in a shuddering breath as Billy rubbed my back soothingly. "We need to find Alan." he said after a moment, standing. I nodded, reining my emotions back under control. The sun was starting to set, and soon we would have to face a long, dark, night.

"Everyone stay in the trees." Billy ordered, and we were all happy to comply. "ALAN!" he shouted, stepping a few branches further before shouting again.

He paused, waiting for a response, none came, "Alan!" again, no response.

"Billy, he's probably…" I started, but he cut me off.

"He's not dead. Alan knows more about dinosaurs than all of us, he knows how to survive. He's not dead." it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

I nodded, stepping forward so that I was next to him, "He's probably just out of hearing range."

The sun disappeared over the trees, letting out one last brilliant display of light and color before it all went dark. Paul and Amanda were talking, so we left the couple alone, choosing instead to climb to the other side of the tree. Where a large branch-so thick two people could lay comfortable next to each other on it-inclined up a bit, giving it a nice hammock-like feel.

I dropped down, leaning against the trunk of the tree, Billy landed next to me. "So, has this been the excitement you've been looking for?" he asked.

I chuckled, "Oh so much more. But after this, those lions are going to seem like kittens." I paused, Cooper and Nash would have cracked a joke like that.

"How long did you know them?" Billy asked, guessing where my train of thought had wondered off to.

I thought back to when I first joined the business, Nash had taken me under his wing to show me the ropes, and I'd stuck by his side ever since. Cooper we met on a job in the Russian wilderness. We'd never worked a job without each other since. "Almost three years." I stated sadly.

"How long have you known Dr. Grant?" I asked in returned, the sky was completely dark now, and it was nearly impossible to see Billy even though he sat only inches from me.

"Oh," he sighed, thinking back to when he met the paleontologist, "About eight years now. I met him soon after he escaped Isla Nublar and returned to studying fossils."

"I bet he had some stories to tell after that experience." I stated, shrugging my backpack off and hanging it on the branch.

Billy laughed, "That he did, I'm pretty sure he got annoyed when I kept asking for more details on what had happened."

"He doesn't seem the type to go into long-winded details when telling stories." I could feel my eyelids getting heavy. I really hadn't realized how tired I was.

"No he's not." Billy yawned, and I soon followed before leaning back against the tree.

"Maybe we'll get some luck tomorrow and get off this island." I stated, my voice fading as the world around me drifted out of focus.

"We can only hope." Billy's voice seemed far away and soon I found myself floating through an endless array of clouds.

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**Please drop a review and tell me what you thought!**

**Oh, this story WILL go on passed where the movie ends, so there are quite a few more chapters left! So far i've got 5 more chaps planned out and i know there will be more!**

**Black Wolf-Dog**


	6. Dreams, Running, and Reunions

_**This is for the rest of the story! **_**Disclaimer: I don't own Jurassic Park! I do own Lexi and her history!**

**Thanks to everyone that's been reviewing, you make writing this story worth it! This Chapter is dedicated to: o.0 butterz 0.o, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, Angelixlight and I heart Legolas12. Special thanks to those three for reviewing Chapter 4!**

**As promised, here is a longer chapter!**

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__

I opened my eyes, taking in my dry surroundings. Cooper sat next to me, loading up one of his many guns. "Mornin'." he stated.

_I grumbled, he knew I was not a__ morning person, and he purposely annoyed the hell out of me every chance he got._

_Stretching, I pulled myself up, mentally preparing myself for another ridiculously hot day in the African wild. I looked around, spotting Nash still passed out on the ground._

_Grinning, I nudged him with my booted foot, a series of a unintelligible curses flowed out of his lips as I continued to nudge him until he got up._

_"I'm up, I'm up, dammit." I was finally able to make out some of the jumbled words. Looking around, I spotted the six other people that made up our group. They were still asleep, since the sun hadn't yet breached the horizon._

_I stepped away from the group, attempting to find the small creek I'd spotted on our way to the camp. I guess it was further than I thought it was, as five minutes later I had yet to find it. Stopping, I looked around, but didn't see any creek, so I decided to turn around and go back._

_A twig cracked behind me, twisting around, I saw nothing there. I frowned, before deciding to just keep going back to camp. Another twig cracked, I whirled around in time to see a mass of golden fur come hurtling at me._

_A scream erupted from my throat as sharp fangs sank into my shoulder, shooting pain across my chest as the clawed paws ripped through my shirt. Suddenly, a heavy weight slammed into my back, sending me to the ground. Reaching out, I grabbed a hold of my automatic rifle and beat one of the lionesses off of me. Two others rushes out of the bush, charging towards me._

_I swung the gun around, crashing it into the head of the nearest lioness. There was a crack as the barrel hit her skull, she stumbled back, long enough for me to fire off a round between her eyes. The three others regrouped and charged at me again._

_With a quick aim, I shot another lioness down. A nearly unbearable pain shot up from my leg, I swung the gun around and shot the lioness that had latched onto my leg._

_Before I could defend myself from the last lioness, she leapt at me, wrapping her jaws around my throat._

_My fists pounded into her, but she refused to relinquish her death grip. Her fangs sank into my neck, choking off my air way. The next gunshots were heaven to my ears, the lioness fell where she stood, and the pressure on my neck faded._

_I gasped in air, thankful that I could breath again. Pushing against the soft fur, I rolled the dead animal off of me. "Lexi!" I barely registered Cooper's voice, he sounded miles away._

_He appeared in front of me, but before I could say anything, a looming shadow snatched him up. There was a sickening crunch and blood dripped from the suddenly dark sky. "Lexi!" Nash called out._

_I tried to respond, but my voice wasn't working, I couldn't make a sound. I could only watch helplessly as Nash appeared in from of me, followed by a crocodile-like snout with razor sharp teeth. The rest of the Spinosaurus soon came out of the darkness, snapping its jaws around Nash._

_Udesky's screams and the raptors' calls echoed through the darkness. And then Billy was by my side, asking if I was alright, checking my still bleeding injuries._

_I then noticed the movement coming from all around us. Velociraptors rushed in from every direction, trapping us in a circle of death. One of the raptors pounced, landing on Billy and sending him to the ground._

_The animals ignored me as they swarmed him, ripping at any of the exposed flesh that they could. My wounds from the lions kept me paralyzed, and I could only watch helplessly as they killed the man I had come to care about._

_There was a small gap in the murderous creatures, where I could see Billy's face as he turned to look at me. One of the raptors wrapped its jaws around his neck and twisted. Finally, my voice worked as there was a sickening crack. "BILLY!"_

I jumped, barely managing to grab onto the branch to keep myself from falling. It was dawn, the sun not yet peaking over the horizon. The sky was a brilliant array of colors and gave everything a unearthly feel. It made the place seem peaceful, like we weren't on an island full of deadly predators that were constantly hunting us.

I turned towards Billy, who was still asleep, scratch free and alive. I let out a deep sigh, running a hand through my tangled hair. It was just a dream, nothing to worry about.

Glancing towards the ground, I was grateful that I didn't see any animals waiting for us below. Udesky's body was gone, the only trace he was ever there the small puddle of dried blood on the ground and scraps across the ground where he was dragged off.

"Lexi?" A voice asked from beside me, I turned, facing Billy as he fully woke himself up. He was facing the sunrise, squinting as the sun finally peaked over the ocean, shooting blinding rays of light in all directions.

"Hey Billy." I answered, casting him a small smile. Stretching, I stood, jumping up to a branch so I could see the Kirbys. "Paul! Amanda! Get up, we need to get moving soon." I said as quietly as possible while being loud enough for them to hear. The two stirred so I dropped back to branch Billy was still on.

"Sleep well?" he asked, adjusting the straps of his bag as he stood.

My mind went to my dream and I unconsciously rubbed my shoulder where the real lioness had left scars. "As well as one can in this place." I answered, grabbing my own bag from the branch.

"Think the raptors are gone?" Billy asked, glancing down through the foliage to the ground.

"I think so," I answered, stepping onto a lower branch slowly.

"I'll head down first, make sure it's clear." Billy stated, moving to head down.

My dream came back to me, "No!" he stopped to give me a funny look, "I'll go down first, I have more experience with this kind of thing anyway." he hesitated for a moment before nodding, allowing me to go down first.

"I'll be right behind you though." he added as he followed me down.

As quietly as I could, I crept down the tree, keeping my eyes and ears open to any movement. I finally reached the bottom and with a small jump I was back on the ground. As soon as my feet hit the soft dirt, I froze, keeping my eyes on a swivel, looking out for any predators. I couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Billy dropped down next to me.

After a moment he motioned for the Kirbys to follow us down, it was all clear. "We stay quiet, there's a creek not to far from here and we need water." I took charge. This was the ultimate test if I knew my survival skills.

We walked for a few minutes before we came across the creek, pausing to drink and answer nature's call. "We stick to the plan." Billy said as he stood, picking up his bag to replace onto his back. "Head to the coast."

"You're not gonna look for Dr. Grant." Amanda asked, I looked towards Billy, curious to what his answer would be. I knew he wanted to go find Alan, but that would take extra time that we didn't have.

"Going to the coast was Alan's idea. If he's alive, that's where he's headed." Billy responded, adjusting the strap of his backpack.

"I agree." Paul stated, turning to move off. Amanda stopped him.

"What about Eric?" oh damn, we still had to find the kid, since he was the whole reason we were here in the first place. I sighed, letting my head roll around to try and get the pain out of my neck.

"Eric's a smart kid. He probably knows he stands his best chance by the coast." Paul explained. If that was the case, why the bloody hell where we in the middle of the island? "He figures all the big dinosaurs are in the center of the island." Paul continued, he turned to Billy, our current dinosaur expert, "Right?"

"Sure." Billy answered after hesitating a moment. That bothered me, as did the look on his face, which stated the complete opposite. I almost groaned, great, so we had to head back to where all of the giant predators hunted. We were as good as dead.

Amanda nodded as Billy stepped up, taking the lead. I turned, following close beside him. "The big dinosaurs aren't really at the center of the island, are they?" I asked in a hushed whisper, careful that the couple behind us didn't hear me.

Billy looked at me, and with gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. We continued traipsing through the woods, keeping as quiet as possible. Only speaking if it was absolutely necessary. I glanced back at the Kirbys, they were a few yards behind, but keeping the pace and thankfully keeping silent.

"Eric!" Suddenly Mr. Kirby shouted, making me jump. Amanda immediately followed in the call. Did these people learn nothing? "Eric! This way! Eric! Eric!" he continued to shout, both he and Amanda taking off down a different path. I glanced over at Billy as we both paused.

Then we heard it, the very faint sound of someone calling for their parents. Quickly, we took off after the couple. Was it possible that Eric had really survived eight weeks on this island?

It didn't take long for us to break through the jungle, entering into a large clearing. A huge steel fence cut the clearing in half. On the other side of the fence, I could see two people running towards us.

A young boy who looked like he'd been out here for a while ran to the fence, Paul and Amanda jumping between the bars and grabbing onto their son through the steel roped fence. "I knew it! My God! I knew it!" Paul was saying as they pulled the boy into a huge.

The second person reached the fence, it was Dr. Grant! He was alive! Billy and I slowed our run as we got close, approaching at a much calmer pace. "Lexi." Alan nodded in my direction as he reached through to shake Billy's hand. I returned the gesture.

"Am I glad to see you." Billy greeted. "Hey, you got my bag." he noticed, pointing towards the warn object hanging off of Alan's shoulder. Billy must have lost it when we were trying to escape from the raptors.

"Yeah. Lucky strap." Alan stepped back, looking up and down the fence.

"Want me to carry it?" Billy asked, his eyes focused on the bag. It seemed suspicious to me, but I guess he just wanted it back because it was his lucky bag. Made sense in a weird way.

"We need to find a gap here." Dr. Grant ignored him, stepping a little further back to see further down the fence line. There weren't any gaps that I could see, and climbing was not an option with the nearly foot long spikes lining the top of the fence like barbed wire.

"How did you know we were here?" Paul was asking his son. I couldn't help but wonder myself. Just how did he know we were close enough to hear him shouting?

"The phone. The stupid jingle from the store, I heard it." Eric explained, almost too overcome with happiness to care that we might not have a way out of here.

"My phone?" Paul asked. Was he talking about the chunky yellow phone he had on the plane?

"Yeah, your satellite phone." Eric confirmed. Did Mr. Kirby really have a phone on him the whole time?

"Where is it?" Amanda asked, turning away from her son long enough to look at her ex-husband.

"I don't have it." He answered.

"When did you use it last?" Amanda asked again. The last time I had seen that phone Paul was passing it over to….Nash.

"Uh, on the plane, I got a call on the plane, and…." He trailed off, realizing the same thing I just had.

"What?" Amanda urged, she must not have remembered. "What!"

Alan, Billy and I walked back over to the three. A flash of color on Eric's side of the fence caught my attention. "I loaned it to Nash." Paul said, but his voice barely penetrated my frozen mind. I couldn't move, couldn't warn them of the predator standing behind them. Mr. Kirby continued, "He must've had it when he…" he trailed off as the phone's ringing went off again. This time, everyone turned to see what I had seen.

The Spinosaurus just stood there, staring at us. His muscles were bunched up underneath his skin, he was ready to charge.

"Run." Alan ordered under his breath

All at once, we took off down the fence, to where there appeared to be a small breach in the fence. Hopefully it would be big enough for a person to pass through.

The Spinosaurus took off as soon as we did, and with his massive legs, it didn't take long for him to close the gap. The dinosaur roared as he started his pursuit.

I glanced over in time to see the giant predator snap at Alan, but he was still a step too far behind to reach him thankfully. Suddenly we reached the hole, and Eric quickly passed through into his parents' arms. Alan ducked in just as the Spinosaurus slammed his nose through, attempting to snap up anything within reach.

They'd made it just in time and after the dinosaur pulled his long snout from the hole, he retreated, roaring out his anger at loosing his prey.

We really shouldn't stop here though, we needed to keep moving. Suddenly, an entire section of fence went flying as the super predator burst through. I nearly tripped as I whirled around, catching site of a steel building behind us. Without a second thought on what could be waiting for us inside said building, I bolted towards it, the rest of the group doing the same.

I ran as fast as I could, practically sliding into the building as I tried to stop so I could close the doors. As soon as everyone was inside, we pressed the doors closed and slammed all of the multiple locks into position. And not a moment too soon as the dinosaur rammed headfirst into the door. I let out a sigh of relief as the door held firm even after several more rams from the Spinosaurus. He let out another roar before his massive footsteps retreated away.

We'd made it, we were safe. For now.

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**Black Wolf-Dog**


	7. Here We Go Again

**I don't own Jurassic Park!**

**This chapter is dedicated to my bestest bud, who stuck with me, Butterz! Thanks for being the bestest friend anyone could have!**

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While the Kirbys properly reunited, Billy, Alan and I walked further into the building. I glanced out of the broken windows, where the ground had disappeared.

Apparently the structure sat on the edge of a cliff, and not a small one either. Fog covered the ground below, so it was impossible to tell how far down it went or what was down there.

"Alan, you wanna give me the bag back?" Billy asked again, and there was a strange note of desperation in his voice. I turned my attention away from the scenery towards him, he was hiding something.

"That's okay Billy, I got it." Alan brushed him off, looking for something at the bottom of the cliff.

Billy took a step forward, what was he hiding? "Please give me the back." this time the desperation was obvious and Alan noticed it. He turned to face to younger man, "It's not safe."

With caution, Alan pulled the bag from his side and slowly unzipped the top. Billy sighed and looked away. "Raptor eggs." I snapped my attention to the bag, where two sandy-white, oval eggs sat nestled in the bag. "Did you steal raptor eggs?" Alan asked, begging the answer to be no.

"My God, Billy." I said quietly, more to myself than to him, but he heard me.

Billy gave a nearly imperceptible nod, refusing to look Alan in the eye. "Now it all makes sense." Alan said to himself, zipping the bag back up.

"I swear…" Billy started, "if I'd known that you were gonna end up with them…" He trailed off. _Just what would you have done then?_ I couldn't help but wonder. I doubted his actions would have been any different even if he did know. "I took 'em on an impulse. I thought they'd be worth a fortune, enough to fund the dig site another ten more years." he tried to explain.

I could understand where he was coming from, financial difficulties made people do crazy things. But stealing Velociraptor eggs was just stupid, and in Dr. Grant's words, it all made sense. Now we knew why they were after us.

"Look, you have to believe me. This was a stupid decision, but I did it with the best intentions." Billy tried to defend himself, or at least lessen Alan's disappointment in him.

"With the best intentions." Alan scoffed to himself. "Some of the worst things imaginable have been done with the _best intentions_." he kept his voice low and even, but the effect was far worse than if he had been yelling. "Billy, as far as I'm concerned, you're no better than the people that built this place." He finished harshly.

I couldn't help but flinch at the cruelty of the words and feel for Billy. Alan walked passed him, holding the bag out the window, preparing to drop it into the depths below.

But he hesitated and after a moment pulled his arm back through the window, the bag still firmly in his grasp. Mr. Kirby chose this moment to burst in, "What are you doing? Those things are after us because of those!"

"_Those things _know we have the eggs." Alan stated as he shed himself of his backpack and opened it, stuffy Billy's 'lucky bag' inside. "I drop them in the river, they'll still be after us."

"What if they catch us with 'em?" Paul asked. _Probably the same thing they'd do if they caught us without them._ I thought to myself. Then again, if we didn't have them, the outcome would probably be worse.

"What if they catch us without 'em?" Dr. Grant asked in returned, confirming my thoughts. We had to only hope we would not be caught, which was a slim to none chance. Those raptors seemed far too smart to not find us. "There's a boat at the bottom, just downriver." Alan stated to everyone as he returned the backpack to his back. "We can try and make it to the coast at least." he lead the way down the winding staircase.

The footsteps on the old steps echoed through the building, but Billy didn't budge. I rested my hand on his shoulder, "He didn't mean it Billy. He's just…" I trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Billy shook his head, "No, he meant it, and it's true." he started to walk after the other four.

"Billy." I grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn and face me, "You're nothing like Ingen. They built this place for personal profit. Stealing raptor eggs is incredibly stupid, but not selfish. Just let him cool off for a bit." I gave him a weak smile, trying to comfort him in the only way I knew how before heading down the stairs. There was only a brief moment before I heard his footsteps following behind me.

The stairs finally ended at a small observation deck, though there was nothing to see through the incredibly thick fog. There were two pathways, one on the right, and one heading left. We turned right, where there was a set of stairs going down into the mist.

After going down, we came across a fork in the tunnel, one way was a bridge where the other end could not be seen, the other was another set of stairs. Alan started down them, but as he dropped down on one of the steps, the whole thing gave way, succumbing to time and rust. Luckily for Dr. Grant, Paul was right behind him and was able to grab him before he followed the stairs down. There was several bangs as the stairs crashed against the rock on the way down, before finally ending with a splash. Mr. Kirby whistled, that was a long way down. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." Alan answered, turning back towards the bridge. He gave Billy a scowl as he passed.

"Just give him time." I whispered into Billy's ear after noticing his disheartened look.

Alan stepped towards the bridge, both arms spread to keep fingertips on the side rails. As soon as his foot hit the bridge itself, the whole thing shook and creaked. He turned back to Mr. Kirby, who was right behind him. "Let's do this one at a time, shall we?" he stated before venturing further across the bridge.

It continued to groan in protest, but it held, even as Alan disappeared into the fog. It took almost a full minute before his voice echoed back to us, "Okay, come on over! One at a time!"

Amanda stepped forward, but quickly turned back to Eric, "All right, Eric, I'm gonna leave you just for a minute, okay? Then you're gonna be right behind me, okay?"

"Mom, I've been alone in a water truck for eight weeks. I think I can manage the next two minutes without you." Eric responded, so that was how he had survived. He had taken refuge in one of the abandon vehicles, '_Smart.' _I thought to myself.

Amanda nodded, "All right. We're all together now." she stated as she turned around and followed Alan into the fog. The bridge continued to squeak and clank in protest, a testament to it's age.

"Okay Eric! Come on, honey!" Amanda's voice floated back to us.

"Okay, over you go." Paul urged his son on. Billy glanced over at me, and it was then that I realized I had put my hand back on his arm. I quickly removed it and stepped back, but kept away from the edge. If there was one thing I hated-besides annoying tourists of course-it was heights, especially those where I couldn't see the ground.

Eric started his journey across and was soon swallowed by the fog. Suddenly, a tremor shook the caged tunnels. "What the hell was that?" I asked no one in particular, attempting to see _something_ through the hellish fog. Just where the hell had it all come from anyway?

Suddenly, Eric's voice shot through the fog towards us. He was screaming. "Dad!" the bridge groaned loudly and Eric's running footsteps could be heard coming towards us.

"Eric." Paul mumbled to himself before taking off down the bridge, "Eric!" Billy and I followed him, but soon skid to a halt as a huge flying creature flew past, Eric in its claws. "Eric! Eric!" Paul continued to shout for him, and faintly I could hear Amanda yelling for him too.

Alan and Mrs. Kirby appeared out of the fog as we all turned and raced back the way we had come, trying to find an opening where we could safely get Eric back. "I can't see him! I can't see him!" Amanda was yelling as we ran as fast as we could up the stairs and back towards the observation point.

"This way!" Paul shouted from the lead. I honestly didn't know how we were going to get Eric away from the winged beast, but we didn't come this far just to loose him again.

Suddenly Billy stopped, and I nearly rammed into him. He glanced up towards the observation tower as Alan came into view. He stared at Billy and then I heard the unmistakable _'click'_ of harness snaps.

Billy took off, but I could clearly see him fully strapping the harness on. My God he was going to use the parachute! "Billy? Billy?" Alan shouted, guessing the younger man's intensions. "Billy, stop. Billy stop! Don't Billy!" Alan tried catching up to him.

"Billy! Don't be stupid!" I yelled, almost to him as he jumped up onto the ledge. With one last, purposeful look at Alan, Billy jumped, just as Alan and I had nearly reached him.

"Billy!" Alan shouted. The red and white chute shot open, carrying Billy off towards the high pillars where Eric had been dropped.

Alan and I raced down the other channel, trying to keep everyone in sight. Distantly, Billy's voice called out, but it was too quiet for me to decipher. "Jump!" I heard it loud and clear and turned in time to see Eric leap off the rock tower and wrap his arms around Billy before he fell do his death.

I turned to face the way I was going again, only to slam my heels down in an effort to stop before going over the edge. A huge piece of the tunnel was missing, too far for anyone to jump.

I glanced around for Billy, but my attention was quickly grabbed by the huge Pteranodon attempting to get at us through the hole. We turned, running back the way we had come. The Pteranodon followed us in the air, landing ahead of us on broken roofing. Its beak shoved down towards us before the support it was standing on gave way, allowing the creature to crash down in front of us.

I grabbed one of my knives, preparing to reach out and slash the animal. Alan, who was in front of me, started backing up, forcing us all to do the same. The creature opened its beak and Alan took the chance to jump forward and kick the animal in the head.

It growled it's annoyance as we continued backing away, the end of the channel coming up quickly. We made it to the final section of the tunnel, stopping at the very end. The Pteranodon continued to follow us, but as soon as all of his weight was on it, the section collapsed. It all happened so fast I didn't even get a chance to try and grab onto anything.

We fell for only a second before hitting the water, which was thankfully deep enough that we didn't hit the bottom. I came up gasping, having not expected a swim in the cold water. The Pteranodon hit the water, flapping its wings in an attempt to get back into the air again. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the section broke away, landing on top of him and trapping him at the bottom of the river.

As soon as the dinosaur disappeared into the depths, I turned, swimming towards shore. My backpack suddenly felt ridiculously heavy as it filled with water but I refused to take it off.

We finally made it to shore, "Eric?" Amanda yelled, looking around for her son.

"He's there." Mr. Kirby reassured her, pointing out to where the boy was climbing out of the river. I looked around, trying to spot Billy.

Amanda continued to call out to him as we crested the small hill, "There he is!" Eric shouted, pointing towards the cliffs, "He's across the river!" I turned, my heart plummeting to my stomach. The parachute had gotten caught on an overhang, and Billy was dangling helplessly as several adult Pteranodon circled around him, waiting for the opportune moment to attack.

"Get him outta here!" Paul shouted as he, Alan and I turned to run back the way we had come in an attempt to get to Billy.

I glanced up in time to see Billy unhook the buckles of the harness, dropping down into the water. He tried to run towards us as we tried to get to him. One of the Pteranodon swooped down, picking him up in his claws only to drop him moments later.

"Hang on Billy!" Alan yelled as we charged through the water towards him.

It seemed after the first dinosaur attacked, the others found it the right time to do so as well as several came down, pecking at him. "Billy!" Alan shouted.

"Wait!" Paul shouted, grabbing onto Alan's arm.

"Get away!" Billy shouted as two Pteranodons slammed into him, sending him back under the water. "Get away!" he yelled again.

"Billy!" I shouted, trying to get my arm out of Paul's grasp. His grip was firm though, and I could only watch helplessly as he disappeared down the river.

Suddenly, one of the Pteranodon that hadn't attacked Billy, but had chosen to sit on the sidelines turn his attention towards us.

I couldn't move, the only thought running through my mind was that Billy was gone. Someone grabbed onto my arm, pulling me away. I went into autopilot, running with the two men as we tried to escape the flying predator.

An iron-barred wall rose up in front of us. Alan and Paul led the way, diving into the water and swimming under the bars. I quickly followed as the Pteranodon slammed into the wall, preventing it from getting to us.

Thankfully, not far from where I surfaced, a small boat almost reclaimed by the forest sat by the shore. On it, there was a small cage, most likely used for transporting juvenile dinosaurs from the compound.

I pulled myself onto the boat, taking a welcomed gasp of air. Swimming wasn't one of my strong suits. The rest of the small group climbed on after me, knocking away the branches that had wrapped themselves around the boat.

As we pushed away from shore, I glanced back the way we had come. The fog was lifting, and the giant, dome bird cage was clearing visible. I could still hear the Pteranodon screetching from behind the bars.

I collapsed onto the side of the boat, leaning my back against the side of the small cage. Billy. He was gone, forever. I buried my head in my hands, trying to keep the tears from falling.

My God, Billy was _dead_.

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**Black Wolf-Dog**


	8. Is It Worth It?

**Disclaimer: I don't own (unfortunately).**

**This chapter is dedicated to Angelixlight, o.0 butterz 0.o, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx and Kayl Lebeau for their reviews last chapy! Thanks for sticking with me and enjoy chapter 8!**

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The boat coasted down the river for a while as the sun peaked out through the clouds, streaming in through foliage.

Somehow, I'd managed to drag myself into the cage and sat in the front far corner. Someone-I think it was Paul-was talking, but my brain wasn't registering anything anyone was saying.

I couldn't even understand myself, why was I reacting this much over Billy's death when I had been able to hold back the tears for Nash, Cooper and Udesky? Deep down I knew. Somehow, over the small amount of time, I'd managed to fall for Billy.

I didn't know if it was love or if I'd just gotten attached to the guy because of the circumstances, guess I would never know, nor did it even matter anymore.

He was gone and there was nothing I could do about it. So I shut myself off from the rest of the surviving members of our group. It was almost an hour before Alan came to the front of the boat.

"Hey Lexi." he greeted in a subdued manner. I was only able to offer a weak smile in return, so he turned to watch the way we were going.

"Dr. Grant?" I heard Eric say as he came up to the bow.

"Hey Eric, how you doing?" he asked, turning to face the boy.

"I'm sorry about Billy." a deep pang shot through heart, and it was then that I finally let go. For the first time in years, I let the tears fall.

"You know what the last thing I said to him was?" Alan spoke, taking a seat across from Eric, "I said 'you're as bad as the people that built this place.' Which wasn't true." he sighed, glancing down, "Billy was just young. That's all."

He paused, as if diving into a memory, "I have a theory that there are two kinds of boys." Alan started again, holding up two fingers, "There are those that want to be astronomers, and those that want to be astronauts. The astronomer, or the paleontologist," he pointed to himself, "gets to study these amazing things from a place of complete safety."

"But then you never get to go into space." Eric finished, following Alan's train of thought.

"Exactly. That's the difference between imagining and seeing: to be able to touch them. And that's….that's all that Billy wanted." Alan sighed again.

There was a pause in the conversation as we continued to coast down the river. Suddenly, the foliage on the left side of the river disappeared, opening up to a wide plain. "Dr. Grant." Eric got his attention. I looked up as well as the two males stood.

I couldn't help but be awed by the amazing creatures that littered the area. Two Ankylosaurs were at the bank, one drinking the water but raised its head to watch us. An entire herd of Stegosaurs, with babies, grazed on the tall grass. Several faded green herbivores that walked on two powerful legs grazed, one using its curved, horn like, bone on the back of its head to scratch its back.

But the most impressive were the massive Brachiosaurs, who found extreme interest in our boat as they came towards us. The largest, most likely the alpha male, stepped partially into the water, letting out a strange, deep throated call.

"Know something Dr. Grant? Billy was right." Eric stated.

I couldn't take my eyes off of the huge dinosaurs and it was then that I realized the true splendor of what Ingen had done. While running for my life from the carnivores, I was never able to realize why they had done what they did. Now I did.

It was amazing, these animals that died over 65 million years ago were _alive._ Living, breathing dinosaurs. It was a miracle, man may have recreated these creatures, but in no way were they controlled. In this world, man was at the bottom of the food chain. Everything was primal, simply the fight for the right to live.

There was no economic class, racism or injustice. It was purely _wild._ Not touched by mankind, and I realized that that was the way it should stay.

We all watched the herbivores for over an hour, until finally the forest reclaimed the bank and they past out of sight.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, with only a few animals coming out of the woods for a drink, but quickly disappeared back into the jungle.

Two hours later, the sun had completely set on our second day on Isla Sorna. We continued to drift down the river, everyone lost in their own thoughts. I didn't want to cry anymore, so I brutally shoved all thoughts of Billy to the back of my mind. Instead, I focused on what we would do once we reached the coast, how we would get ourselves rescued and how we would stay alive long enough for help to arrive.

Without warning, Mr. Kirby shut off the boat's engine. "Listen!" he commanded. We all went silent, trying to hear what had caught his attention. It wasn't hard to figure it out, the obnoxious ringing was easy to hear in the quiet of night.

As a small break in the tree line approached, we all held our breath, preparing ourselves to come face to face with the Spinosaurus again. Instead, we were met with three huge piles….._of shit?_

"Find it before it stops ringing!" Alan demanded as the boat came close to shore, leaping out of the craft and heading towards the waist high, piles of Spinosaurus feces.

"Eric you stay on that boat." Amanda demanded as she too jumped off, following after Paul.

"It's here. Wait. Whoa-whoa, it's here." Mr. Kirby stated, squatting in front of one of the piles. I stayed standing, attempting to pinpoint which pile the ringing was coming from. The other three dug their arms into the piles, pulling out bones, watches and broken sunglasses in their attempt to find the cell phone.

The ringing seemed to be coming from the pile Mrs. Kirby was currently digging through. Taking a deep breath, I squatted down next to her and dug my arm into the warm pile. It was disgusting.

I felt something, so I grabbed onto it and pulled. "I got it." Amanda stated, pulling out the phone. Rubbing some of the shit off of the object in my hand, I realized it was Nash's dog tags.

Alan and Paul rushed to Amanda's side, the paleontologist taking the phone as soon as she removed it from the pile. Wiping some of the crap off the front, Alan answered it, "Hello? Hello!"

The response was loud and clear, and obviously a recording, "You too can own a time-share in beautiful Guadalajara. Enjoy a meal in one of our four-star restaurants…" the recording was cut off as Eric's voice shouted from behind us.

"Look out!" I looked up and groaned. Coming towards us was a red scaled dinosaur that looked like a black-spotted, smaller version of the Tyrannosaurus with a large horn protruding from its nose. The dinosaur, which Dr. Grant would later tell me was a Ceratsaurus, leaned down, taking a few deep whiffs of us. His head shot up, and with a low, almost defeated growl, the carnivore turned and walked back into the woods.

"Guess he didn't like the smell." I joked with a half grin once the dinosaur was gone.

"Guess he didn't." Alan responded, standing up and heading back towards the boat.

We all did the same, pausing to scrub the crap off of ourselves in the river. I kept Nash's dog tags with me, sticking them in my pocket once they were shit free.

Overhead, the thunder clapped, and it was only a few moments before the skies opened up and poured the rain down onto us. Quickly, we got back in the boat and heading down the river again. "Turn off the power. You've got juice for maybe one call." Paul was saying to Dr. Grant as he fiddled with the phone. We figured it would be best to let it try and regain some charge before making a call for help, though who would actually help us I hadn't a clue. "Whatever you do, don't call the U.S. Embassy. They won't do a damn thing." Mr. Kirby finished.

From up front, Eric shouted, "Hey guys! Come here! Look at this!" we all turned, heading over to see what he was talking about.

Looking down into the water, we could see several silver fish swimming erotically, as if trying to escape from a predator. "Bonitos." Alan classified the fish.

"Something must have spooked them." Eric supplied and I could only hope it was just a bigger fish.

"Get the engine going Mr. Kirby." Alan ordered as a precaution. Hopefully the sound would scare off whatever was in the water.

They rushed to the back of the boat to try and get the engine going as I attempted to see what had scared the fish. "Open the throttle." Paul's voice came through the rain.

After not seeing anything in the water, I went over to the back of the boat, where Alan was mumbling to himself while holding the phone to his ear. "Ellie?" he yelled when I'm guessing the line on the other end connected.

"Charlie? Charlie?" he shouted again, responding to whatever the person on the other end said, "Charlie, take the phone to Mommy now. Take the phone to Mommy. It's the, it's the dinosaur man." it sounded like it was a child that answered, I could only hope Charlie got the phone to his mom and quick. Though if she could actually help us I hadn't a clue. "Listen to me Charlie," Alan continued, "Charlie! Are you taking the phone to Mom? Charlie?"

Suddenly, the boat jerked back, sending several of us sprawling. I tried to regain my footing before I fell, but the wet deck was slippery and I ended up on my back. "What the hell?" I mumbled to myself, attempting to recover from the disorientation that came when I smacked my head on the metal floor.

With a grand _whoosh, _though the noise was lost in the storm, a huge, crocodile-like head shot out of the water, soon followed by a massive sailed body. The Spinosaurus roared as everyone leapt to their feet and ran towards the front of the boat, where the cage now stood as shelter from the killer.

The dinosaur, turned, slamming into the small cover by the wheel. After pulling up the cage door, we all piled inside, hurriedly closing the door behind us. We were trapped and could only watch as the predator tore apart the back of the boat, ripping the engine right off and slashing into the gasoline tank, pouring it into the water.

He put some of his tremendous weight on the back of the boat, sending the cage we were in to slide back until what was left of the mini wheel house stopped it. The Spinosaurus dropped the boat, letting the front of it slam back into the water. He slowly walked down the side, heading to the front, growling and snarling at us.

The dinosaur lifted himself up to his full height, letting out a mighty roar. His clawed hands grabbed onto the cage, slowly pulling us back towards the beast.

"Look in the boxes!" Alan yelled as he tossed down one of the few metal boxes that were sitting in the cage with us. "Find a weapon!"

I wasn't sure how much use a weapon that could fit into a small box would have against such a large animal since my rifle had only pissed it off. But I dug through one of the boxes anyway, only finding dirty bandages. I turned as the two men were trying to get one of the boxes open. Grabbing my knife, I turned it hilt down and slammed it into the lock. The force of the blow along with it's age allowed the lock to snap off and several items went sprawling on the floor, including a flare gun.

From somewhere behind me, the now familiar ringing of the satellite phone broke through the rain and roaring dinosaur. "Where's the phone?" Alan shouted.

"There!" Paul shouted.

We all turned, seeing it sliding down the side of the boat. I leapt forward, attempting to grab it as it slid by. I missed. Without warning, the Spinosaurus jerked back on the cage, putting it right on the edge of the boat. Luckily, it sent the phone skidding right back at us and Alan was able to pick it up.

"Ellie? Ellie, listen to me." Alan was shouting as the cage completely slid off the boat and into the river. I gasped, trying to get in as much air as possible before we were trapped under water. "The river! Site B! The river!" but then we were under the water, trapped with no way out except into the hungry jaws above us.

I panicked, pounding on the bars even though I knew they wouldn't open as a force slammed into us, sending the cage spinning. I was beyond disoriented now, I didn't know which way was up, I only knew that I was running out of air.

Fortunately, the cage stopped rolling, with about a foot of it above the surface. I gulped in the welcomed air, then realized as the dinosaur roared that somehow, the door had come open. His clawed hand came through the open top, pinning me into a corner. One of the claws dug into my side, ripping its way across my back. I screamed, nearly choking on the water as if flooded through my open mouth. The pain was excruciating as the predator lifted up, as if to pick me up out of the cage, but his claw just continued to rip through my back until it came out on my other side and I dropped back under the water.

Something caught the Spinosaur's attention and he turned away from us. Alan took the chance to leap on top of the cage, pulling Eric and Amanda out. His arm wrapped under my arms, helping me pull myself up as the pain in my back made it nearly impossible to move.

He dove in after me as I drew on my last ounce of strength to swim to shore. It was the longest swim in my life and I found myself almost willing to give up. I pushed myself on, finally dragging myself onto shore, letting the bottom half of my body remain in the surprisingly cold water.

I turned just enough to see where the Spinosaurus was. Currently, he was bashing his head into a large crane that had someone on it. It was Mr. Kirby! He was practically sacrificing himself for us, granted he was the reason we were here in the first place, but it seemed that he found his courage and wanted to make up for his mistakes.

Suddenly, a glowing red ball shot out towards the dinosaur, hitting it in the side. The Spinosaurus turned in our direction as another red ball shot out, landing on the water and igniting the gasoline. Flames leapt up from the water as tall as the dinosaur, licking at his scaled hide. He roared out, whether in anger or pain I didn't know, nor did I really care.

The fire didn't die down, so with one last smack against the crane that sent it smashing into the water, the Spinosaurus lumbered off into the forest, his pounding footsteps that shook the very earth I was laying on getting softer and softer as he got further away.

"Dad!" Eric called for his dad as he had been since the flames shot up.

"Paul you jerk!" Amanda yelled towards the fire, "You can't leave me like this!"

"I'm not going anywhere." Paul shouted from a distance, I turned to see him stumbling out of the water. Amanda and Eric ran over to him, nearly making him fall as they hugged him.

"Lexi?" I heard Dr. Grant's voice as he walked over to me, but everything was getting quieter and quieter. Was it worth it to keep fighting? I thought of Billy and nearly gave up, the urge to join him in whatever afterlife there was overwhelming.

He wasn't just a man I'd met on a doomed flight. Somehow, he'd become so much more.

And now I would join him in Death's embrace.

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think! I'll try to update as soon as possible, but i have severely limited time with classes and driver's ed (yes, i am FINALLY taking it! lol). I also got a new jeep! yay! So i may be spending more than usual time on the road :)**

**Black Wolf-Dog**


	9. R&R Raptor and Rescue

**Disclaimer: of course i don't own it!**

**This chap is dedicated to Angelixlight for the review last chap, thanks! Sorry this is so late it getting out. I won't be updating at all during November since I am participating in NaNo. Unless of course I get enough reviews then i may be inspired to spit out another chap before November starts. Enjoy!**

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"Lexi?" Alan's voice sounded close by. Death hadn't taken me yet, and I found a new will to fight, to survive. Billy wouldn't have wanted anyone to give up, and I'd never been one to give up. I wasn't about to start now.

I groaned in response, attempting to push myself up. My shredded back screamed in protest, but with the help of Alan, I was able to get back on my feet. Every step was excruciating and it took every ounce of the strength I had left to keep walking, well, my small reserve of strength and Dr. Grant, who supported a majority of my weight.

We kept walking, though it was a slow pace thanks to my injury. It was only after we had covered several miles that Alan let us stop, just as the sun came up through the trees, giving the jungle an other worldly look.

I dropped down to my knees, wincing as my back felt like a jackhammer was pounding into it at the quick movement. I knew if we didn't get off the island today, I would be next on the growing list of the dead.

Swinging my small backpack around in front of me, I realized with dread that the bottom of it had been shredded along with my back, everything had fallen out, including the bandage wraps.

Slowly, so as to not anger my wound anymore, I dug through the other pockets, praying I could find something to wrap around the bleeding hole that was my back other than a torn vest.

The only thing left in the bag was a thin shirt, but it would have to do. Dr. Grant took the shirt from me, ripping it into long strips for me. The wrapping was shoddy work, but the best that could be done at the moment. "Come on, we need to keep moving. Once we reach the coast we can take a full rest." Alan stated, hauling me back on my feet.

Turning, he glanced over to the Kirbys, who were reminiscing about fishing or something like that. "Mr. Kirby?" Alan called, getting their attention. He motioned with his arm for them to come, turning back towards the path we were attempting to follow to the ocean.

Black spots swirled over the trees and bushes and it took me a moment to realize it was the blood loss affection my vision. Grabbing onto a low branch, a large portion of the wood snapped off, creating a temporary walking stick.

I held my breath as I took the first step, leaning heavily onto the wood and praying it wouldn't break under my weight. Thankfully it didn't, but my current pace was too slow and I refused to hold back the remaining survivors anymore than I already had.

Taking deep breathes, I followed into the brush as Alan led the way down some unseen trail. I stumbled through the jungle, attempting to keep as quiet as possible while not collapsing. The black swirling across my eyes was making it ridiculously difficult to see what was in front of me.

Our group trudged on, ever mindful of the dangers that surrounded us. My body was slowly going numb as it started shutting itself down in order to stem the blood flow. I knew I was in trouble if we didn't get somewhere safe and soon.

If we weren't rescued today, I knew I wouldn't make it through the night. I was getting too weak too fast and the smell of my blood would likely attract any and all predators on the island.

"That lady you called." Eric's voice floated back to me as he caught up with Alan.

"Hmm?" was the nearly imperceptible response.

"Who is she? How do you know that she can help us?" Eric asked.

"She was the one person I could always count on. I owe her a lot. Although I don't think I ever told her that." Alan confessed as we continued our trudge towards the coast. I prayed we got there soon, I didn't know how much longer I could keep this pace up.

"You should." Eric told him. Suddenly Alan stopped, putting up a hand as he cocked his head to listen.

"Shh, you hear that." he said.

"The ocean!" Eric's face brightened as we all picked up the pace, thankful that the trek was almost over.

The adrenaline shooting through my veins helped dull the pain enough for me to keep up with the group as they shot forward, eager to reach the coast. We crossed through a small break in the trees, where the ground was all sand and I knew the ocean was close, very, very close.

The last noise I ever wanted to hear right now sprung up from in front of us as a large Velociraptor barreled in front of us, successfully bringing us to a stop long enough for the rest of his pack to surround us.

I looked around, but there were no escape routes, raptors really were efficient pack hunters. "They want the eggs, otherwise we'd be dead already." Alan noted as we stuffed ourselves into a tight circle.

The raptors-which I dully noted were all male-tightened their circle, bringing them even closer to us. Way too close for any type of comfort. A grey female walked out of the brush, calmly pacing towards us. "Everybody get down. She's challenging us." Alan commanded.

Obediently we all sank to the ground, sitting on our knees in case we needed to get up quickly. Everyone was facing the female, but I couldn't help my gaze going back to the raptors behind us.

The female continued walking towards us as the males around her cawed at her in their raptor language. She hissed as she got close to Amanda, leaning down to sniff her. "She thinks you stole the eggs." Alan whispered. I figured female raptors must be more protective of their eggs around other females.

This particular female must have been the one the eggs were stolen from, the Alpha female by the looks of how she controlled the other males.

"Get behind me." Paul ordered, attempting to move in front of Amanda.

The raptor hissing, pushing her head forward to warn Mr. Kirby from doing anything with the sharp rows of teeth that coated her mouth.

When she was satisfied Paul wouldn't try anything, the raptor went back to her inspection of Amanda, pressing her muzzle against Amanda's face and taking deep sniffs. When she pulled back, she let out a demanding hiss.

"Give. Me. The eggs." Amanda demanded, keeping her eyes on the raptor.

As soon as Grant opened the bag, the raptors around us started their cawing speech. Alan passed the eggs over to me and the female hissed before I passed them on to Amanda.

"Do it Mom." Eric encouraged as Amanda took the eggs and set them in the sand, gently pushing them towards the raptor.

Alan reached back into the bag, pulling out a bone of some sort. Putting one end to his lips he blew, letting out a deep hissing. The raptors threw their heads back before cawing to one another and snapping at us, though they didn't move towards us.

"No! No, no, no. Call for help!" Paul said, watching the raptors worriedly.

Alan put his lips to the bone-which I could now guess was a resonating chamber for a raptor-and gave quick spurts of blows, which created a cawing sound that resembled what the raptor from the compound had been making.

One of the raptors lifted his head and made a loud version of the cawing, like a response. The raptor to the left of the female lunged toward us, claws and teeth at the ready. He was stopped short by the female, who with one hiss put him back in place.

I let out a breath as he took several steps back. Definitely the Alpha in the pack. She turned away from the disciplined male and looked up, cocking her head to listen to whatever sound she could hear.

Turning to the males on either side of her, she let out a noise that sounded like a mix between a chirp and a hiss. Orders by the looks of it as the other raptors fled into the bush, leaving only her and one other male.

Gently, she bent down, picking up one of the eggs in her jaws. She gave us one last look before taking off. The male hissing before grabbing the remaining egg and following his mate.

I looked around, unable to believe the raptors had just left us. Suddenly Paul sprung to his feet, "That's a helicopter." he stated. As much as I tried to focus on the sounds around me, the blood pounding through my system made a whiring in my ears that just wouldn't go away.

The group sprang away and I got to my feet as quickly as possible, stumbling as I tried to keep up with the now running survivors. We broke the treeline and the ocean was a welcomed sight.

And then there was something I wouldn't have expected in a million years. In the middle of the beach, one lone man stood, dressed in a business suit with a bullhorn in his hand. _What the hell?_ I thought.

"Dr. Grant? Dr. Alan Grant?" the man shouted over the bullhorn. I couldn't help but wince out the loud noise. Well, now every dinosaur on the whole bloody island knew where we were.

"Stop!" Amanda yelled as everyone rushed forward.

"That's a very bad idea" she and Paul continued together as Alan and Eric tried to signal the man to be quiet.

No sooner had they yelled that, army water tanks rolled out of the surf and onto the beach, soldiers pouring out of them. Well….I guess it didn't matter what dinosaur came now, they wouldn't get very far. Three helicopters flew over head before coming down for a landing and out in the distance I could see Navy ships.

Alan definitely knew the right woman to call.

"Wow. You have to thank her now. She sent the Navy and the Marines!" Eric spoke up, turning to Alan before quickly facing our rescue again. It was..unbelievable to say the least. And a large part of me feared it was just a dream.

"God bless you Ellie." Alan stated before moving forwards towards the man in the suit and one of the helicopters. Soldiers surrounded us for an escort to the chopper.

I tried to move forward but I couldn't. It wasn't no sentimental thing with the island, though I wished at least the bodies of Nash, Cooper, Udesky and Billy could have gone home to a proper funeral. No, it was simply the fact that my body had used the last of its strength reserve and simply refused to go any further.

It was miraculous that I was still standing, even if it was with the help of a stick. It didn't last long though, my legs soon gave out on me and if it wasn't for the soldiers' quick reflexes, I would have had a face full of sand.

He said something, but everything was fading, the sound of the chopper's engines faded and the island quickly became just a blur of color.

There were several voices and I felt myself being laid on something solid with my back facing up to expose the injury. I was lifted again and it came through my fuzzy mind that I could be on a stretcher. Or in the jaws of the Spinosaurus and this was just my mind's way of making the end seem a little happier.

I was lifted again as my temporary bandage was taken off, an actual bandage wrapping around it instead. The stretcher-or dinosaur, I still hadn't figured out if I was really being rescued or dieing-lifted up again and I was brought inside the helicoptor, placed behind where Alan was squatting, talking to someone.

Someone was trying to get Grant to sit down, and once he finally did we lifted off. "Sea Shadow Dust Storm Zero Five, six souls on board." I heard the pilot say.

"Dust Storm Sea Shadow, roger. Good work." was the response.

I tried to turn my head to see who Alan had been talking to, but was distracted by the pilot, "What the hell is that?"

"Dr. Grant look!" Eric shouted.

I looked out the only window I could, the one behind Alan. After a second, the bodies of three Pteranodons flew into view, heading out to sea and away from the island. '_Guess we forgot to lock the birdcage.' _I thought.

"Where do you think their going?" Eric shouted again.

"I don't know. Maybe just looking for new nesting grounds." Alan responded. "It's a whole new world for them."

I didn't think those birds would last long out in the real world. Someone, whether it was Ingen or the Coast Guard would probably kill them once they attacked someone-which they would.

"I dare 'em to nest in Enid, Oklahoma." Amanda challenged.

Paul looked at her, sharing a smile, "Let's go home." well at least this little adventure brought a divorced couple back together.

'_Isla Sorna, the ultimate couples therapy_' I thought to myself, '_Whatever they gave me, it's some strong shit.' _in fact, the pain in my back was pretty much all gone and I had the feeling of floating. I was pretty sure now that I wasn't dead, but had in fact been rescued, though I couldn't say for sure yet.

I let my body relax and my thoughts turned to Billy. But before I could dwell too long on them, I felt skin brush across my right hand that had been hanging off of the stretcher.

"Looks like you got a little banged up too." a voice said and my heart skipped a beat. I turned my head, trying to focus on whoever was talking to me.

It just couldn't be, but I doubted whatever I had been given was that strong. But the impossible turned out to be very possible as I met the eyes of the man that had spoken.

Billy.

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think! That is the end of the movie, but not the end of this story! Also, if you have any preferences on where you would like this story to go, please tell me, it may give me some needed ideas!**

**Black Wolf-Dog**


	10. Moving On

**Disclaimer: I don't own the rights but i do own the DVD!**

**Wow, thank you so much for all of your support! It warms my heart to know you enjoy this enough to want me to continue! Your reviews gave me the inspiration to get out another chapter! Special Thanks to: Angelixlight, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, o.0 butterz 0.o, Ladey Jezzabella, Kayl Lebeau and DanaIsis. You guys rock! This chap is dedicated to you! Enjoy!**

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"_How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on….when in your heart, you begin to understand…there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend… some hurts that go too deep…that have taken hold." ~Frodo _

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Beep…beep…beep…beep

The incessant beeping was driving me mad. I frowned as a bright light pierced through my eyelids, rough fabric rustled across my skin as I shifted. The _beeping_ picked up slightly and I wondered what it was.

There was a muffled chorus of voices, so blurred together I could make out none of it. Finally, I was able to open my eyes. The blinding light burned for a moment before my eyes adjusted to the ridiculous amount of light.

A white ceiling came into focus and I tried to reason out what room would have such a plain ceiling._ A hospital_. I discovered, as I moved my head a fraction to see the blasted beeping machine that was monitoring my heart rate.

It wasn't my first time in a hospital, and it probably wouldn't be the last, but that didn't mean I wanted out of there any less. I struggled to sit up and wondered how long I had been out of it. My back barely hurt at all, for which I was very thankful.

The room spun for a moment when I finally managed to sit up, but once everything stayed still, I looked around. Trying to find something to put on other than the flimsy hospital gown.

I discovered a pair of black sweatpants and t-shirt folded neatly on one of the stools. Slowly, I swung my legs up over the side of the bed. Feeling a slight tug on my arm, I glanced down, noticing the IV needle sticking out of my arm. _Morphine_ the bag read. Nothing needed for survival, so I grabbed the needle and pulled it from my arm.

Tentatively I reached back to feel the wound across my back. I was startled by how much it seemed to have healed. The skin was raised up and I knew I'd carry the scar for the rest of my life. Twisting slightly, I could see the edge of the wound, still red and covered in a large scab that had partially turned to scarring already. Just how long had I been out? A wound like that would have taken weeks to heal this much!

I grabbed the clothes and tore the monitors off of my body, I had to get out of here. The monitor started blaring as an alarm went off, warning doctors that the heart rate had flat lined. I didn't care, I could never handle being in a hospital very well and I had to get out of there _now._

A doctor rushed in through the door as I pulled the sweatpants up. "Miss Baker, you shouldn't be up." he stated as he shut off the alarm. I turned away from him as I ripped the gown off and threw the shirt on.

"Where are the papers? I'll sign myself out." I asked, already heading towards the door.

"Miss Baker you are not ready to be released. You suffered traumatic injuries and we need to be sure you are healthy." the doctor tried to grab my arm and gently pull me back towards the bed, but I resisted, pulling my arm out of his grasp.

"I'm fine, perfectly healthy, now where are those damn papers?" I snapped, tapping my foot in impatience. The hospital was spiking my anxiety levels and I had to get out of here. I could feel the bad memories snaking their way back into my mind as I tried to shove them back into the dark corners I had put them.

The doctor, whom I recognized as Dr. Malcolm, shook his head, I'd been his patient before and he knew how I usually acted. He held out his hand, motioning for me to go out the door, I did, walking faster than usual but having to slow as a wave of dizziness swept over me.

The paperwork seemed to take longer than usual, as Malcolm had to explain to me why I had been unconscious for almost three weeks. But finally I was out the front doors and breathing in the fresh air again. After a few breaths, I started to stop shaking and climbed into the Taxi waiting for me.

Thirty minutes later and I was standing on my front porch, looking at the dark windows. As dawn approached, the light lit up the small, simple apartment complex that I called home. It didn't feel like I was here just a month ago. It felt like it had been years since I'd seen this place, like I should walk in and everything would be covered in spider webs and dust. But as I grabbed the spare key above the door frame and walked in, everything was how I'd left it.

There was a thin layer of dust, but that was nothing unusual since I was rarely here, hence why I lived in an apartment instead of a regular house.

The old clock on the wall continued to click the seconds away as I took in everything. After putting on some real clothes, I dropped down on the sofa and stared at the blank TV. I wondered how the others were doing, especially Billy. Had everyone gone home and returned to their routine lives? How could they? We spent less than three full days on that island, and yet my life had been changed in a way that there was no going back to how I used to be.

**Two Weeks Later:**

I jumped out of the dusty, worn jeep, keeping a hand on my holstered pistol as the group of tourists climbed out after me. I was back in Africa, for the first time since the lion attack. A part of me wanted nothing more than to jump in the jeep and leave. But I continued on, moving on with my life.

I'd only spent three days at home before I went looking for a job, I couldn't stand sitting around doing nothing, wishing I knew where Billy was. My heart yearned for him and I couldn't figure out just when I had fallen for him or how I had fallen so hard.

Many years ago I had promised myself that I would remain a free woman, that I wouldn't give my heart to any man. But sometime while on that blasted island, he had taken it without me even noticing. I knew it was hopeless though, I didn't know where he was or if he was even alive.

So I pushed on, trying not to think about him or the island. I went back to routine and tried to forget the last month. But there was one thing I could never push out of my mind.

The two other mercenary men with me I didn't know, I'd never seen them before and I didn't care to learn there names. This was my first job without Cooper and Nash, and if felt all wrong.

How could I go on with routine when my two partners were gone forever? Unconsciously, my left hand reached up and grasped the dog tags Nash had worn as I followed behind the group into the African wild.

We had little trouble on the trip. The other guards were obviously new to this job, as they would not stop talking of the 'dangerous' situation we had found ourselves in when we had inadvertently stumbled upon a pride of lions. I couldn't help but scoff. The cats could do some damage sure, but not in the quick, brutal way a Spinosaurus or Velociraptor could. Each animal could have been easily dispatched if they tried to harm us.

My mind wondered back to Billy. How was he copping with the memories? Was he plagued with constant nightmares like I was? Did he wake with the memory of the dead?

There was no adventure in this anymore. It was like walking through a zoo. The animals tame and the gun useless. I didn't want adventure if it would cost lives though.

What did I want these days? I wanted to go back and stop myself from going. I wanted to save Nash and Cooper. I wanted to stop myself from meeting Billy, perhaps then I could have spared myself this pain.

But there was no going back, there was only standing still or moving forward. And I was never one to stay in one place for long.

I watched as the rich tourists awed over the herd of zebras, taking countless photos. My eyes scanned the grass and sure enough, only a few yards from the herd was the tawny hide of a lioness. She wasn't alone, they never were.

The group started to walk away, believing they had seen all that was to be seen at this spot. I stayed where I was, crouched down in the dry grass. A morbid part of me wanted them to see the attack, to see just how fragile life was and how quickly it could end.

"Miss Baker, are we moving on?" one of the tourists asked. The two mercenaries looked at me, still too new at the business to have any faith in their decisions.

I shook my head, putting a finger to my mouth to signal to be quiet. "Wait." I ordered, not moving my eyes from the herd.

No sooner had the group turned towards the animals that the lionesses took their chance on an elderly zebra. The first lion sprung from the grass, her deadly claws raking across the animals flank. The herd took off as the attacked zebra let out a pained cry.

The tourists cameras were for once quiet as they watched the end of the equine's life. It only took seconds as the herd took off and the other lionesses sprung out of the grass, surrounding the injured animal and cutting it off from his family.

Three lions jumped at the rear, two latching onto the rump while the third landed on its back. Two others clawed at the front as the zebra tried in vain to escape.

Did it know the end was near? Did it realize it was going to die? Was it resigned to its fate, that it would die to feed the hungry lions?

Finally, a sixth lioness leapt from her cover and wrapped her jaws around the doomed animal's neck. My hand rubbed my own neck, where I had once felt those deadly jaws. Did Nash and Cooper feel like that zebra? Did Udesky realize he was going to die? That there was no hope for survival? How would they have lived if they knew they would die on that island? Why I did I survive?

Why was that one zebra out of hundreds chosen to die when there was another right next to him. Why did I live while my family-by-all-rights perished?

The zebra finally collapsed, giving one final kick and squeal before going still. The lionesses roared out their victory, calling out to the lion that a meal had been caught.

The tourists remained silent and unmoving, as did the two armed men. The male lion strode onto the kill site and immediately dug into the carcass as the lionesses waited on the side.

I slowly stood from my crouched position, motioning for the others to do the same. The lion saw us and roared. One of the men raised his gun, but I pressed down on his arm. "He's not interested in us."

We continued on, the tourists for once remaining quiet and I guessed this was the first time any of them had seen something die.

It only took them a few hours to go back to normal though. And the rest of the four day trip went uneventfully.

I found myself back in the states, with no job for another month. I was unused to being alone for so long. Once again I found myself sitting on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Suddenly the phone went off, the shrill ringing breaking me from my thoughts.

"Lexi Baker." I answered dully. I had almost considered unplugging my phone as news reporters and journalists insisted on hounding me for an interview once the story got out of the second Isla Sorna disaster.

"Lexi? It's Paul Kirby." there was a pause for a moment and I swore to myself that if he wanted my help rescuing someone I would kill him myself. "You're a hard woman to get a hold of." I glanced over at the answering machine, which had a bright red flashing 32.

"I'm a busy person Mr. Kirby." I lied, not wanting to continue this useless babble.

"Yes of course. Listen Amanda and I would like to properly thank you for helping us find Eric. Let us take you to dinner say tomorrow?" I couldn't stop the anger from coursing through me. Did he really think dinner would fix everything? I sighed, knowing that there wasn't anything he could do .

I didn't know if I could face them, I part if me wanted to, for some closure at least, but another part wanted to put it all behind me and just shove it out of my mind.

I knew it was ridiculous to refuse simply because I didn't want to remember all that I had tried to repress. But I simply wasn't ready to go back and deal with everything yet. "I'm sorry Mr. Kirby, but I am terribly busy. Perhaps another day." I lied, knowing full well that I would put it off as long as I could.

"Oh alright, yes another time then." Paul said preparing to hang up.

I couldn't stop myself from asking "Mr. Kirby? How is Billy?" I held my breath, waiting for bad news.

"Billy? Oh he's fine, wasn't even in the hospital that long." Kirby answered and I let out a sigh of relief, finally some good news.

"Thank you Mr. Kirby. " I said before hanging up, now I could rest easier, knowing he was safe and alright.

I couldn't stay sitting there for the rest of the day, so I stood up and prepared to go where I hadn't gone in many years.

The simple name plates were right next to each other, just what they would have wanted. I dropped down on my knees between the two graves. Simple markers though it was, as their real graves were on that cursed island.

I pulled Nash's dog tags from around my neck, gripping them tightly in my hand as the other laid down the simple lilies.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. There had to have been something I could have done to spare them. Something to prevent their untimely deaths.

"There wasn't anything you could have done." A voice said from behind me and my heart leapt into my throat, pounding away so loudly I expected the man behind me to hear it.

"Billy?"

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**And there you go! Please drop a review and tell me what you think! Hate it? Love it? Want another chap before NaNo starts in 5 days? Let me know!**

**Black Wolf-Dog**

**P.S. Please vote in my poll, it will determine what story I will do next once NaNo and this one are completed!**


	11. Of Running and Dealing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic Park! *sniff***

***Peaks out from behind steel door* Erm, hi. So sorry it has been so long since I updated! After the last official update I had hoped to finish this story before the turn of the year. Obviously that had not happened. Again so sorry for the wait! This chapter is for all of you rediculously loyal and faithful readers who have stuck with me, I don't deserve you! Now if only there were a way to send cookies to all of you!**

**In case you didn't see before, there is a poll on my page concerning this story, the majority vote will determine how much longer this story lasts! Voting also determines what will happen in the next chap, so vote please!**

**This chap is filler-ish, but it needs to be done (unfortunately). But none-the-less enjoy the chap!**

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"Billy?" I couldn't believe my eyes, it wasn't possible. My body went into autopilot as I rose from my knees, slowly moving closer to him.

I made my way to him, my hands going towards his face, the smooth planes of his cheeks let me know that he was real, he was actually there. My self control practically snapped as I flung my arms around him. "What are you doing here?" I asked, refusing to relinquish all human contact with him, my mind still trying to accept the fact that the man was actually here.

"After what happened on that island, I don't think we can ever go on with our lives while avoiding each other." he stated, "And I couldn't just go back to the old routine without seeing if you had survived, you got yourself pretty banged up back there." he let a wry smile grace his lips and I had the overwhelming urge to close the gap between us.

"What can I say? It's my specialty." I fought off the urge, choosing instead to step back, in case my self control finally gave up the fight. I turned back, the sight of the grave markers sapping all humor from my mind.

"I'm serious about what I said, there wasn't anything you could have done for them." his voice said behind me. I felt more than heard him approach as a warm hand landed on my shoulder, giving a comforting squeeze.

I didn't respond, I knew in my mind there was something I could have done to spare them both, some action I could have taken that would have them here, even if it meant I was not.

"Hey, remember the good times you had together, they wouldn't want you to dwell on what couldn't be prevented." his hand slid across my back, landing on the opposite shoulder and tucking me under his arm. "Don't cry because it's over, smile because you had time with them."

I tossed a slight, humorless grin at him, "What are you, a philosopher now?" I asked, enjoying the feeling of the warmth that emitted from his body.

"What can I say?" he started, throwing my own words back at me, "It's my specialty." I glanced around the near empty cemetery, there was no way to be at one without feeling the sadness that came with so much loss. "Come on." he started, pulling me around, "Let's go get some lunch."

I pulled myself out of his reach, knowing that if I let myself start down this path, there was no telling how far it would go. "I can't, I've got a job to do, I leave in two hours." I really couldn't understand why I lied as my heart screamed at me to stay with him, but I could recognize the fear there, the fear of getting close to someone again, knowing that they could get ripped away without a moment's notice.

"Hey," he gently grabbed onto my arm, pulling me back into him. "Don't go disappearing again." I tucked my head into his chest, not giving away that that was exactly what I had planned on doing.

Using all of my mental strength, I pulled away, giving him a small smile, trying to memorize every detail of his face before I turned and walked away.

As soon as I reached my truck I jumped in and sped off without looking back, knowing that if I did, my resolve would break.

When I made it home, I felt the need to change something, _anything_. So I spent hours wondering around, rearranging everything in the apartment. But that wasn't change enough. I still felt like I was going through the motions of everyday life, I needed to change everything.

So I did what I hadn't done since I moved into this place years ago, I packed up all of my stuff. There wasn't anything really personal decorating the apartment, so it was simply a quick, easy matter of packing clothes and weapons.

With a quick phone call to the landlord and loading the boxes into the truck, I left behind a now empty apartment, a place I no longer called home.

I pulled out of the drive and entered the highway. It was then that I realized I had no destination in mind, I had no where to go. So, I decided I would just drive, drive until I was too tired to continue and then find someplace to sleep for a few hours. A small part of my brain was telling me I was running away from something, but I forced that part to shut it, I was simply moving on and starting over somewhere else.

When the sun set, I found myself to wired to sleep, so I kept going, only stopping for gas when the tank ran empty. My mind was racing yet still at the same time as thoughts whizzed through my head yet I was processing none of it. It wasn't until the truck could no longer run on gas fumes and died on the side of the road, with the sun far overhead that I finally broke.

The tears came huge and fast as I cried for everything and everyone that had been lost to me. The emotional instability caused by the rollercoaster that had become my life over the past few months destroyed all attempts and abilities to hold back the tears.

So I sat on the side of a near empty highway, midday with the roasting Texas summer sun overhead and let myself cry until I couldn't anymore. At some point the exhaustion had kicked in and by the time I opened my eyes, the sun was resting on the horizon behind me.

'_What the hell am I doing?' _I couldn't help but think to myself. My heart was screaming for me to turn around, while my head demanded I keep going. The pressure of the conflict was making it impossible to think rationally, hell, it was making it near impossible to _function_ properly.

Sluggishly, I pulled myself out of the hot and nearly oven-like truck. This section of highway this far away from the city of Dallas meant that there was little to no traffic and I was thankful for the small piece of rational that had been working enough for me to remember to put a full gas can in the back. The few gallons wouldn't get me far, but it should be enough to get me to the next gas station.

I did manage to make it to a lonely little station that wanted four bucks a gallon for regular fuel, but at this point, I really didn't care. The breakdown had left me drained and emotionally numb. If I had enough energy, I might have thought it strange how little I felt. Even though the temperature read 97 degrees, all I felt was a numb coolness spread throughout my body.

"That's a pretty gnarly scar you got there." a voice cracked behind me and suddenly, like coming out of hypnosis, the world snapped back into clarity and my mind broke through the fog.

I hadn't even realized that as I had bent over to fill the gas can that my shirt had ridden up enough to show the injury that now felt as old as the creature that gave it, yet as fresh as the memory that plagued me.

I turned to glance at the old man that had spoken. An old redneck geezer in every sense of the word, complete with missing teeth, dirty overalls and a thickening layer of dust on every inch of him. "How'd ya get it?"

_Rain poured down all around, thunder cracked across the sky, echoing off of everything. The river swelled, crashing waves signaling its disdain for being disturbed. A yell, a sharp claw ripping through flesh. A roar that sent spikes of icy fear racing down my skin._

With a brief shake of my head I snapped myself out of the twisted memory and back into reality, "An accident." I stated simply, refusing to elaborate. Not that it would matter, it was unlikely someone who lived so separate from society would even know of the islands and Ingen's creations.

"An accident? Wit what? A chainsaw?" he asked, refusing to give it up.

"Pretty much." I passed it off, a chainsaw…..with way over two tons of angry muscle and primal hunger behind it. Pulling out my wallet, I passed the man a hundred, hoping he would leave me be at the sight of the money.

Thankfully he did, holding the bill up to the sun before passing me what I guessed was supposed to be a 'charming' smile and a 'have a nice day' before trudging back into the little shop.

Tossing the fuel can back into the truck bed, I jumped in, firing up the engine. But now I had to decide where to go. Did I turn around? Back to my old life? Or did I keep going, onto a new start, where the past would not reach me?

The sun had set by the time I pulled out, continuing on my way away from Dallas. I still had not the slightest clue as to what I was doing, but perhaps a good sleep in a musty motel might give me a better idea.

So I drove until midnight, when I reached a small town big enough to have a one lane airport. I pulled into the first hotel I saw, rented a room for the night and collapsed onto the bed. Perhaps the morning would bring some answers. Maybe, with a stroke of luck, I would have an idea of what I should do. But for now I would sleep, lose myself in the bliss of unconsciousness and get a small reprieve from the worries of life.

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**Again, sorry it's short (and late) but please review! Your comments keep this story alive! And don't forget to vote in the poll, the more votes, the quicker the next update...(I hope :D). I give you all a million thanks for being so patient with me, I will try to update quicker!**

**Black Wolf-Dog**


	12. Of Darcys, Captains and Allies

**Disclaimer: I don't own the recognizable!**

**I know this still took a little while to get out, but at least it was quicker than the last one! And it's longer to! I have to warn you all though, school is getting really tough, started major physical training in one of my classes and it's leaving me zero energy by the time I get home. I will try to get the next chap out quickly, but life has a way of screwing up writing plans! I would like to thank all of the reviewers from the previous chapter, you're the reason I keep writing this! A huge shout-out to Butterz, who helped me write this chap!**

**The votes are in and 90% of readers voted one way, so majority rules! Isla Sorna will be making another cameo at some point!**

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The annoying buzz of the cell phone broke me from my daze as I watched the road before me disappear beneath my tires. Days had turned to weeks and it wasn't long before two months had gone by, leading into August. I had kept up my cross-country trek, never returning to Texas, but visiting nearly every other state in the country.

"Lexi Baker." I answered, briefly glancing at the '_Welcome to Arizona'_ sign as I passed it.

"Miss Baker, _US News_. I was wondering if you had a moment to answer some questions…" the female voice said quickly. I snapped the phone shut harder than necessary, chucking it back into the passenger seat. Even months after the damn incident and journalists and news reporters were _still_ calling me trying to get an interview. I used to just refuse, but it got so annoying after the fifth call that I started hanging up before they could spit out their first question. Less of them tried again that way.

A motorcycle zipped by, the growl of the engine like a sucker punch, knocking the breath from my lungs. I couldn't breathe as cold chills shot down my arm. Suddenly I wasn't in my truck flying down the highway. I was back on that damned island, trapped in the darkness of the trees.

The smell of sweat and fear, the thickness of the air, the growling of the Spinosaurus, shrouded in the bushes, all came back to me so quickly. I braced myself with a white knuckled grip on the steering wheel as my foot felt like lead on the brakes. Everything pitched forward as the truck screeched to a halt, the sound making me cringe as the noise resembled the screech of the Velociraptors. I gasped, my chest protesting painfully as I forced it to expand. Painful images of the wild beasts primed to kill flashed in front of my eyes, and then Udesky's face.

A car horn honked behind me, making me jump. I would have been through the roof if it hadn't been for my seatbelt. Trying to catch my breath, I fumbled with the clumsy fingers to get the seatbelt off. The contraption suddenly felt too suffocating. The whole truck felt constricting. The car horn continued, beeping louder, more frequent.

Lights flashed, then everything was so loud and all I could hear was the horn as the sound morphed into the alarms of the crashing plane. It was so blaring and I panicked, trying to figure out how the hell I was going to get out. Everything was dark, dark and loud and there were shouts coming from all around, but I was alone.

A faint noise pulled me away from the memory, making the vision flash in front of me as it pulled further and further away. I slumped in the seat, feeling the darkness and noise fade until I was staring at nothing but the wide open California highway, my phone ringing incessantly from the passenger seat.

I shook my head, pulling over and letting the impatient driver behind me pass. My breath came in quick, painful gasps as I tried to slow my racing heart. The phone kept ringing and it took several moments before my breathing had become normal enough for me to answer.

"Lexi Baker." I answered, rubbing my arm with my free hand to try and rid the limb from the goose bumps.

"Miss Baker, I have a job offer for you." a male voice stated, the tone was vaguely familiar, but not enough to be placed.

"I'm listening." I prompted when the voice paused, a job was exactly what I needed right now. The memories always popped up, and they were getting more frequent the longer I went without a job. At least when I was working I was able to keep my mind busy enough to avoid the painful visions.

"I'm going on a trip to the Amazon and I heard you've been several times and would be best for protection." the familiarity in the voice was driving me mad, I just _knew_ that I knew the man who was talking.

"How long?" I asked, pulling back onto the interstate, heading for the next exit, wondering just how long and quickly I would need to drive to make it to this job.

"A week, once we get there." the voice said, "The boat leaves in four days, be at San Diego harbor by 7 o' clock am."

"You're taking a boat down there?" I asked, usually it was always flying down there and then boating up the river. To take a ship all the way down there, that would add days to the trip.

"Uh, yeah. Is that a problem?" the man asked, sounding slightly unsure of himself.

I shook my head, to each his own I guess. "And just who am I to meet at the docks?" I asked, turning the truck around and heading south, lucky for me I was already in California and just a two day drive to San Diego.

I could almost see the smile on the man's face when he spoke and it only served to drive me more mad at my inability to place his identity, "Mr. Darcy." and the connection ended.

I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows at the odd ending to the conversation. But I didn't put too much thought into it, I had heard stranger and I found my sanity much more likely to stay intact the less I tried to figure out the minds of some people.

For two days I drove, only stopping to sleep once. I managed to keep the episodes at bay by keeping my mind busy going over all of the different routes and detours I could take the tourists on while in the Amazon.

By the time I reached San Diego, the sun was just setting and I was more than ready to drop and sleep for the ten hours I had until seven. But first I had to get everything ready for the next morning, so once I reached the motel closest to the harbor, I emptied the back of the truck into the room.

I went through the different guns, cleaning and checking over everything. I reached over, pulling a random backpack towards me. Grabbing the flap, I flipped it open, my breath catching in my throat as I caught sight of the bloody and torn bottom. It was the bag I had taken to Isla Sorna. Before my thoughts could wonder back, I chucked the bag across the room, quickly grabbing another and focusing on filling it with necessities for the trip ahead.

I shut my mind down as I went through motions. When the pack was done to my standards, I set it by the door, running everything else back out to the truck and packing it into the back. I then dead bolted the room door, set the alarm for 6 and finally allowed myself to collapse into an exhausted and hopefully dreamless sleep.

For the first time since the accident I slept without dreaming and when I awoke, I felt more refreshed than ever. I was ready for this next mission, as lonely as it would be without my two right-hand men with me, I could do it. Even if it meant taking a ship all the way down there. Even though it meant said ship would be traveling between Costa Rica and Isla Sorna at one point.

I wasn't worried though, the ship would be hugging the coast, and the Los Cincos Muertes were over a hundred miles from shore. There was extra time before I had to leave, so I flipped on the news to check what the weather conditions would be. There was a tropical storm heading in that direction, but not only was it small, but the trajectory wouldn't put it within fifty miles of the boat's path. Nothing I would need to worry about.

Finally the time came for me to leave, so after turning in the key and tossing the pack into the truck, I pulled out and headed towards the harbor. It only took a few minutes to reach the docks and after locking up the truck, I grabbed the full pack, slinging it over my shoulder and starting my search for 'Mr. Darcy'.

The docks were packed with people and after a quick check on the schedule, my suspicions were confirmed, several ships were leaving that morning. Just how was I supposed to find this guy? I had no idea what he even looked like!

A female voice came over the intercom, barely loud enough to be heard over the buzz of people, "Boarding call. The _Darcy_ to South America leaves in thirty minutes. All passengers of the _Darcy_ are to report to dock 6." The _Darcy_, Mr. Darcy. Great, now I knew even less about the guy I was supposedly meeting for this trip. Why couldn't people just give their real names? Being 'mysterious' was a real pain in the ass.

I moved down the docks towards 6, keeping an eye out for anyone who seemed to be searching for someone. The problem? Everyone was looking for someone, whether a lost child or a friend lost in the masses of people.

I arrived at dock 6, taking a moment to look over the ship. I was no boat expert or anything, but the vessel seemed fairly small compared to some of the others. It looked relatively older too, like a modernized tramp steamer turned passenger ship. Shifting the bag on my shoulder, I cast one more glance over the crowd before returning to my scrutinizing of the ship. It really did me no good to try and pick out someone from the crowd, I could only hope the man that was hiring me knew what I looked like.

"She doesn't look like much, but she's a real diamond in the rough." a man said, stepping up beside me. Judging from the worn boots, faded brown, button-up shirt and weather beaten white cap, mixed with the 5 o'clock shadow and slightly stressed green eyes, I guessed this to be the captain of the _Darcy_. And I couldn't help but think the man and his ship belonged in the Depression Era. "Captain Scott Johnson." he introduced, confirming my guess of his rank.

"Lexi Baker." I smiled, shaking his offered hand.

"So why are you coming along? Looking for adventure?" he asked, leaning forwards against the dock rail. The sun started its climb over the city, casting warm against our backs.

I gave a short laugh, remembering when adventure was all I wanted, "No, no adventure, I was offered a job, told to come down here to meet a _Mr. Darcy._"

Scott laughed, "So you have no idea who you're supposed to work for?"

"Nope." I shook my head, partially wondering why I had come in the first place. "But I have dealt with stranger people so I didn't worry too much about it."

"What do you do anyway?" he asked, turning slightly to take in the rather full backpack I had forgotten was still hanging on my shoulders. I pulled it off, lightly dropping it on the dock next to me.

"I'm a mercenary of sorts. Take tourists out to 'dangerous' places and keep them safe while they 'aw' over the scenery and the animals." I explained, rubbing my lower back with one hand as a dull pain started up again.

"The way you say it sounds like you don't believe there is a danger factor." the captain stated, turning fully to face me and fixing me with a searching stare.

I shrugged, "There is _some_ risk taken going out there, but I wouldn't call it dangerous."

"There is only one type of person who talks like that." a new voice cut in, a bald man with prominent cheekbones and an almost rawboned figure with a dusty old hat in his hands approached us. "Someone who's seen real danger." He gave me a knowing look and somehow I just knew that he knew I had been to Isla Sorna. And since he recognized it in me, I could tell that he had been there too at some point.

The captain smiled, recognition spreading across his face as he greeted the heavily accented Englishman. "Roland, it's been a long time."

The man's name was familiar and it only took me a few seconds to recognize him as the famous animal hunter. The man that had the head of every predator in his trophy room. Well, almost all, I couldn't help but wonder if -and doubt- he had the heads of a raptor or spinosaur on his wall.

"Roland Tembo." he introduced himself to me, offering his hand that wasn't occupied by the hat.

I took it, giving a firm shake and a slight smile, "Lexi Baker."

"The tour guide?" he asked, releasing my hand and putting the hat on his head. I nodded, smirking slightly at the running joke between those of us in the business. "So, were you Nublar or Sorna?"

I ignored Scott's questioning look as he watched the verbal exchange. "Sorna. And you?"

He gave me a slightly strange look, "The same, you must have been the recent one."

I nodded, "And you were San Diego."

A brief grimace flashed across his face as he nodded, he wanted to avoid the memories just as much as I did. And suddenly I had an ally, someone who had been through a similar experience, who could relate with all the crap I was going through, but who's presence wasn't a painful reminder of what I had lost.

Captain Scott glanced down at his watch, "Well as entertaining as your cryptic conversation has been, I better get the ship ready for departure, we leave in ten minutes. Roland, will you be coming on the _Darcy_?"

"That I will Scott, I'll go get on board now. Miss Baker." he nodded at me before turning and heading towards the ship.

"Hope you find the elusive Mr. Darcy." he grinned, tipping his hat towards me before following Roland to the ship. I smiled slightly, watching him as he walked away. In all honestly, he wasn't bad looking, but there was no way I could think like that without Billy's face popping into my mind.

"Making new friends?" a voice asked, the familiarity unmistakable and it made my breath hitch. I turned, facing the man I had sworn I would never see again.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as soon as I could get my voice to work properly.

Billy gave a slight smile, his eyes searching my face for something, but I was too shocked by his sudden appearance to even try and guess what he was looking for. "I could ask the same of you." his voice was slightly deeper than I remembered, more exhausted, more world-weary.

"A job." I stated simply, my body warring with itself. Part of me wanted to get the hell out of there, yet a larger part _needed_ to stay, it kept my feet firmly planted to the ground and my thoughts racing faster than I could process them.

He frowned, opening his mouth to say something. But the voice that spoke wasn't his, but it was one I had heard before. We both turned to see this new intruder as he approached us. "Ah Mr. Brennan, Miss Baker. I see you both made it."

Suddenly I knew why 'Mr. Darcy' sounded so familiar on the phone.

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**And there is the next chap! Please drop a review and let me know what you think! And I would love to know what kind of dinosaurs you'd like to see come into the story.**

**Also, please send a prayer for the survivors of the earthquakes and tsunamis, it's the most powerful thing you can do.**

**A/N: The inspiration for Captain Scott Johnson and the _Darcy_ comes from the _S.S. Venture_ and Captain Englehorn from Peter Jackson's 2005 rendition of _King Kong_. While Scott doesn't look like Thomas Kretschmann, the general outfits are similar.**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**


	13. Mr Kane and Unwanted Conversations

**Disclaimer: don't own of course!**

**Ok, so the days flew by and today I noticed that over a week had gone by since I updated and I hadn't even looked at the story since! So, my muse smacked me upside the head and for the first time in months I was able to spit out a chap in one day! Oh and I also found out that a guy I met a little while ago thinks I'm cute...EEK! I'm sarcastic and rather good at dealing with jerks, since high school is full of them, but I have zero people skills with the nice guys. I haven't had a guy say I was cute since I punched one a few years ago (it was justified!). Anyway, enough about my personal life I know none of you care about! This chapter is dedicated to My Lady Vader, Nelle07, and Hope and love for their reviews of the previous chap. And of course a HUGE thanks to butterz...now known as TaylarelloLove, for her continuing support and mini lesson on awkward conversations!**

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The man approaching us looked out of place in the crowded docks as well dressed as he was. He wanted to stand out, that was obvious enough, he was used to the attention. Although he did seem slightly uncomfortable at the apparent lack of recognition he was getting from the crowds around him.

I had seen him before, never actually met the man, but his face had been splattered across the television several times. He came across as a narcissistic, chauvinist on TV, and I had little doubt that he was any different in person.

"Richard Kane, head of Dynasty industry." he introduced himself, sticking his hand in Billy's direction. The tone of his voice was conceited, he knew full well there was no need to name himself, but he did for the sake of saying it. Billy gave him a weary glance before finally shaking the man's hand. I could barely suppress a grin when Billy rather blatantly wiped his hand on his pants after the shake.

The rich man turned to me, offering his hand, which I reluctantly shook. He sent me a quick wink and I had to try hard to suppress the disgusted shiver. The suit made him appear like a respectable man, but the dark, beady eyes, and rather sinister air about him put off any good notions about him. He was dangerous, he was trouble, and I wanted nothing to do with him.

He exaggerated checking his watch, making a big show of surprise at the time, "Well we better get on board before we're left behind." he offered his arm to me, but I ignored it and remained firmly planted where I was. A man as rich as he was would simply order the ship to return should it leave before he got on. And then he would probably buy the entire company that owned the ship and financially destroy the captain and crew. He was a ruthless as he was rich, a snake.

"First of all, what do you want with us?" I asked, crossing my arms, Billy mimicked my stance, waiting for an answer as to what the hell we were doing here.

"I already told you Miss Baker, a simple trip to the Amazon." he explained, his slimy grin still on his face, but I could already see the impatient drifting into his eyes. He wasn't used to being questioned.

"That explains me, not him." I stated, tossing a short nod towards Billy. He wasn't in the mercenary business, he was a paleontologist, not much he could do in the wilds of the Amazon jungle.

The impatience and annoyance was becoming abundantly clear and I couldn't help but smirk slightly to myself. "There is a small piece of property I purchased down there, but it happens to be in a remote area of the jungle, which is where you, Miss Baker, come in. Mr. Brennan is to help with the digging in that area, which I know is rich in dinosaur fossils."

I narrowed my eyes at him, years of reading people giving me an advantage over him, he was hiding something. He had plotted something big and we were pawns in his game, it was all a matter of discovering his game before it was too late. "So why us?" I asked, watching his facial movements closely. A part of me doubted he was telling us any truths, since the Amazon was an untamable forest that didn't sell off random places.

"You two are the best in your fields that I could get a hold of. And I only use the best. Now we really must be going." he offered his arm to me again, glancing quite pointedly at it when I simply cocked an eyebrow.

"Payment?" I asked, while it wasn't really at the forefront of my mind, it was a question I had to ask regardless.

"If everything goes as planned, a million. Each." my eyebrows shot up at that and I could hear Billy suck in a breath beside me. A million dollars could go a way in our professions. I could replace all of my equipment and Billy could run his preferred dig site for quite a while.

I still couldn't fully trust his motive for using us, but a million dollars was a lot of money and this man was loaded enough to follow through with his promise. And ruthless enough to get whatever he wanted whether others were willing to go along or not. So with a slight shrug, I grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder and headed towards the ship, ignoring the proffered arm.

Billy hesitated for a moment before he followed me onto the soon as Mr. Kane was on board, the ship's horn went off as the final ropes were untied from the dock. And before long, we were pulling out of the harbor and out to open sea. I sighed to myself as I watched the coast disappear, a nagging tug at the back of my mind, _'What have I gotten myself into?'_

Mr. Kane showed us to our rooms, modest enough, but probably the largest the ship offered. The walls were bare, with the exception of an old photo practically bolted to the wall. A queen sized bed was under the photo, a small desk bolted to the floor, and I was guessing that the bed probably was too. Understandable, since should the ship be caught in a storm, the last thing one would want would be flying furniture crashing into them.

I quickly dropped my stuff off in the room, locking up all but one of the guns in the fairly large safe tucked into the closet. I couldn't help the small grin that came over my face as I tucked a small handgun under the pillow, remembering a few years back when someone had stated that we have to be paranoid to carry a gun on our person at all times.

Cooper had given them a weird look, patting his holstered weapon as he said, "I've got a gun, what the hell do I have to be paranoid about?"

It was unlikely anything would happen on the ship, but I would be prepared nevertheless. As soon as I had everything stashed away in record time, I ducked out of my room, hoping to get to the opposite side of the ship before Billy came out from the next room.

I kept telling myself I wasn't running, I was simply making things easier, avoiding the problem. Eventually it was disappear and I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. I knew it would be impossible to avoid him for the entire trip down there, but I would sure as hell try. After all, once we arrived, I would have to go into work mode and there was no time for socializing with wild animals about.

It didn't take me long to reach the stern of the ship and thankfully it was empty, everyone else having taken refuge either in their rooms or at the bow of the ship. Leaning against the rail I surveyed the turning waters below, idly wondering just how cold the water was at midmorning.

"Not thinking of jumping are you?" a voice asked, I jumped slightly, my hand shooting to my front jean pocket, where I kept my lucky knife. I relaxed as the Captain stepped into view, leaning against the rail next to me and taking a glance down at the waters below.

"Not yet." I answered, releasing the hilt of the knife and returning to my previous position. "What are you doing down here? Aren't you supposed to be captaining the ship?" I asked, not that I had a problem with Scott's company, but I had been enjoying the small, private haven I had for myself.

"We're just following the coast line for now." He stated, nodding towards the right at the barely noticeable land line. "Until we pass by Mexico there really isn't much for me to do, besides attempt entertainment for the passengers."

I couldn't help but laugh at his grimace, obviously he had become a captain for the open seas, not for entertaining tourists. "You could always have Mr. Kane do a speech."

Scott gave me an unimpressed look, "And have all my passengers jump overboard? No thanks."

"Captain." we both turned to face the young boy, who couldn't be older than 19. Cabin boy was my guess, "Mr. Kane _requests_ your company." the boy stated, disgust at the rich man apparent in his voice.

"Alright Pete, I'll be there in a moment." Scott nodded at the kid, whom turned to go back the way he came. The captain sighed, rubbing a hand over his face while muttering under his breath about the annoyance Richard Kane was.

"You could always throw _him_ overboard." I suggested with a grin, "I'll help hide all evidence."

Scott let out a laugh, "Don't tempt me too much or I might do just that."

"Go on," I urged, "Go see to his highness before he takes over your ship."

The captain snorted, muttering a "That'll be the day." under his breath as he walked away.

I let the small smile remain on my lips as I turned back to the ocean, glancing down as a pod of dolphins caught up to the ship, splitting in half to go around each side of it.

The splashing of the waves and drum of the ship's engine were soothing and it wasn't long before my mind was drifting off, to the past, the present and the future. But not much time had passed before my solitude was once again interrupted, by a voice I didn't want to hear, yet never wanted to forget.

"So this is where you've been hiding." I turned, seeing Billy leaning casually against the side railing. I did a quick surveillance check, nope, no one was around to save me from what may be the most awkward conversation in history. Guys I could handle, the flirters, the jocks, the 'god's gift to women', even the dominant muscle bound guys, I could handle. But the man that made me lose my breath when I saw him, made my heart skip a beat and my thoughts stop in their tracks, was a man I was in no way prepared to handle.

"I haven't been hiding." I defended, keeping an eye on him as he shook his head, pushing himself away from the rail and starting towards me.

"Bullshit." he stepped close, too close for any type of comfort. I tried backing up, only to find the rail blocking any chance of getting my personal space back. He had no qualms about coming within a hair's breadth of me, it was too close, I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, and I'm pretty sure he could hear my heart trying to thunder its way out of my chest. "Care to explain why you keep running?"

"I-I-I'm not running." I tripped over my words, trying and failing to maintain a coherent thought, the man was too close. Oh lord he was way too close.

He leaned forward even more, bracing his arms against the railing behind me, effectively trapping me in place. My mind went completely blank as I simply stared at him, trying to lean further away though there was nowhere to go. "You want to stop lying to me?" his voice lowered an octave, taking on a husky tone.

I couldn't breathe, oh lord I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. Hell I couldn't even _think_. He was too close, way too close. So close his face was barely inches from mine. So torturously close I could see the gold flecks in his hazel eyes. So agonizingly close I could practically _feel_ the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. So damned close that all I could smell was a hint of the sea and the purely masculine scent that came from him.

How was I supposed to get out of this?

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think! I would love to hit 50 :D There is a new poll up on my profile so check it out!**

**Reminder: Let me know what dinosaurs you'd like to see play a role when Isla Sorna pops up again! **

**Black Wolf-Dog**


	14. Losing Control

**Disclaimer: Don't own of course.**

**Wow, I can't believe over a month has gone by, sorry!** **A huge thanks to** TaylarelloLove **for all your support through this! Thanks to** Angelixlight, FireheartNinja, Nelle07, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, ThatIsSuchAnInsideJoke, DarkFireAngel00 **and** shippolove844 **for all of the reviews, you guys rock! Enjoy the chap!**

**Sorry it's on the shorter side, short but sweet right? I promise the next chap will be longer and more...plot-fulfilling-ish...:)  
**

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I stared up at him, attempting to string my thoughts together enough to formulate some sort of plan for getting myself out of this situation. Nothing was coming to me. Not a single damn thing.

"You were sufficient at wiping yourself off the face of the earth. Why did you do it?" His words cut through my fog ridden mind like a knife. But just because I heard them clearly didn't mean I wanted to answer.

"I-I didn't, I had jobs to do…" I trailed off, my train of thought blasted off the tracks as Billy's right hand came up, brushing across my cheek to tuck a strand of stray hair behind my ear.

"Tell the truth." he stated, staring straight into my eyes, annoyance seeping into his voice, he was getting sick of my avoidance.

"I am." I lied, he knew it. I couldn't hide my emotions around him, he tore down all of my walls, the guards I had so carefully constructed with a simple look.

He pushed himself back, the agitation quickly becoming apparent in his eyes. "Enough of this." He was planning something, I could see it as easily as he could see through my lies. Only I wasn't too sure I would like what he was plotting, actually I knew I wouldn't.

"Enough of what?" I asked, looking for some type of escape while faking cluelessness. His jaw clenched and I had just that second's notice that the peaceful and passive side of Billy was being put to the side.

In a quick move I didn't think the man willing to ever do, he jerked forward and grabbed my wrist, tugging me after him as he spun on his heel and headed for the stairs. The look on his face was beyond determined and just a little pissed. Along with the unbelievably tight hold he had on my arm, there was no way I could avoid going with him.

I recognized the way we were going, towards the rooms and a sinking feeling settled deep in my gut. Not many people loitered or happened upon the hallway, and none would disturb someone _in_ their room unless there was an emergency. The ultimate place of privacy on this ship, where Billy would get his answers unless I was willing to attempt jumping out the window.

We passed my room, reaching his where he paused barely long enough to shove the door open. I hadn't thought him capable of this kind of aggression, warranted though it may be. But that simply proved how little I actually knew the man, as he more than willingly tugged me through the door, slamming it shut behind us.

It was only after the door was securely closed-and locked, I noted with dread as I heard the click-that he relinquished his grip on my wrist. Though he remained standing firmly between myself and the only avenue of escape. I turned away from him, unable to keep up any form of eye contact, instead I looked around the room, which looked like a mirror copy of my own.

"Answer the question Lexi." I couldn't help the shiver that shot down my spine. His tone was bordering on annoyance and fury, but the deep husk was undeniably there and I couldn't help my body's reaction to it.

"Yup, our rooms are identical." I stated, refusing to even look in his direction. I was toying with fire and I knew it, it would only be a matter of time before it came back and burned me. It seemed that the fire wasn't interested in being trifled with any longer as his hands landed on my shoulders, spinning me around and shoving me down to sit on the bed.

Alright I was _done_ being man-handled like this. "What the hell happened to you?" He asked, crossing his arms and standing a mere foot away from me.

"I told you, I had jobs to do." I snapped, the stutter and nervousness long gone. My thoughts snapped together and the distracting fog had lifted from my mind now that my temper had spiked up.

"No one clears out their apartment for a routine job. You skipped town and never came back." The dominant stance he had over me was beginning to piss me off, as was the interrogation-like feel this conversation had.

"I needed a change in scenery, do I have to run everything I do by _you_ now?" I growled, pushing myself off of the bed and standing nose to nose with him.

"A little warning would have been nice. After all that happened…"

"Don't bring up what happened!" I cut in, near desperate to keep the conversation from going where it was headed. "It's over and done with, just leave it at that!" I turned on my heel, heading for the door and hopefully the opposite side of the ship.

"Stop running from your problems and deal with them for once." He snapped, grabbing my arm and yanking me back to him.

"I'll deal with my problems in my own way." I tried pulling my hand free, but the damn man wouldn't let go.

"So will I then!" it was all the warning I got before he pulled me closer, chest to chest and slammed his lips on mine.

I didn't pull back even though my head screamed for me to do so. My heart was louder, more commanding and for once, I decided to listen to it. So I stayed where I was, fighting for the upper hand of this kiss. There was no winning against him but I fought anyway, I wasn't one to go down easy and I certainly wasn't about to start now.

We continued the desperate dance of lips and wandering hands, each trying to convey all of the annoyance, frustration and heartbreak of the last few months.

We were a pair that had seen the unthinkable, suffered loss and had to deal with the consequences. A couple, living completely separate lives, but thrown together on the worst place in the world, torn apart by the memories and brought back together through chance. It was undeniable that there was some type of connection between us, something that pulled our hearts together, that shot the sparks through our kiss. I didn't know what it was, and I really didn't care at the moment either. The only thing that mattered was that single place in time, a simple kiss conveying everything that couldn't be spoken in words. Anger, passion, desperation and above all, need. Need for each other, for someone who knew what we had been through, for someone that understood.

Our movements were quick, harsh yet rhythmic against each other. He pushed against me harder, the backs of my knees hitting the mattress and causing us both to fall onto it. His thin jacket ended up on the floor, his shirt lifted half way up his chest as my hands ran across his stomach. I groaned as his own hands left trails of fire across my skin.

It was the irregular bump of a large wave along with a blast from the ship's horn that knocked sense back into my mind. Lifting the lust-filled haze enough for me to realize that this was wrong. That it wasn't going to solve anything, it would only provide a momentary distraction from reality before adding even more problems to the pile.

I pushed him away, sitting up and turning my back to him. "This won't solve a thing." I muttered, trying to convince myself as well as him that this was a bad idea. No, not just a bad idea, a horrible one that couldn't possibly lead to anything remotely good. I could hear him sigh behind me, rustling the comforter as he came to sit next to me. I adjusted my wrinkled shirt, suddenly extremely uncomfortable. Just how long would my self control last around this man?

He grazed his hand over my shoulder, the heat from his palm shooting through my shirt and sending waves of fire dancing across my skin. I jumped up, feeling my body temperature spike and knowing I was dangerously close to following through with my body's demands. I needed to get out of there, and quickly to.

This time I made it to the door, ducking out and racing up the steps to the deck, desperate for fresh air. By the time I reached the bow of the ship I was near hyperventilating, I could still taste him on my lips, smell his cologne on my shirt and it was driving me mad.

I leaned against the rail, staring unseeing at the water below. What the hell was I doing? I had no idea anymore, no control over my life and I hated it. I liked having a plan, being in control of myself, it made it easier to handle the unexpected that happened in life. But Billy was one thing I had never expected and was in no way prepared for. I lost my barriers around him, the walls fell and I felt utterly exposed. I didn't like it one bit.

It was all going to hell in a hand basket, as the saying went. And I wished we could just reach the coast so I could do my job already.

I managed to avoid running into Billy for the rest of the day, being sure to remain in populated places to prevent being cornered again.

As the sun set I found myself at the bow again, watching as the dolphins turned and left the ship to find their dinner. The ship was surprisingly empty, the passengers mostly men, who didn't seem like happy tourists on vacation. I frowned at the quietness surrounding me. No screaming children, no chattering women or easy talk between old friends. Just a low murmur between the men, walking around in an almost mechanical fashion, like actors tossed on a stage without being told their lines.

I shrugged it off, it was the first day at sea, not many people were themselves when they weren't used to the rhythmic rise and fall of the ship. Everything should return to normal within the next few days, whatever 'normal' was these days. I sighed, welcoming the unadulterated scent of the ocean washing over me.

Yes, everything was getting out of control and I didn't have a damn clue how to handle it.

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**Finally right? Haha hope you enjoyed the chap! Please drop a review and let me know what you think!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**p.s. ****Reminder: Let me know what dinosaurs you'd like to see play a role when Isla Sorna pops up again! **  



	15. It Can Always Get Worse

**Disclaimer: I don't own what you recognize! If I did...well we just won't go there :D**

**A huge thanks to **TaylarelloLove **for her continuing support and for telling me to sit down and get this done!** **More thanks for my reviewers**, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, My Lady Vader, Midnight Cheesecake O.o, shippolove844, DarkFireAngel00, Hope and love, and xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx!

**And so, without anymore fuss, chapter 15!**

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"Absolutely not!" I paused in my steps as I passed the control room of the ship. Captain Scott's voice struggling to remain quiet yet laced with fury. "We're staying on the planned course, no stops and no detours!" there was a detectable growl in his tone, unadulterated hatred at whoever he was talking to.

"That is the planned course!" The unmistakable voice of Richard Kane snarled, angry at the blatant refusal of the younger man to follow his orders.

I mentally thanked the Captain for not going through with whatever the rich man had plotted, which could in no way be good. Staying against the wall, I slid a little closer to open door, letting my curiosity take over. "That is my final word on the matter Mr. Kane, I'm not taking this ship anywhere near there." he had quieted his voice, gaining control over himself and the situation.

"You'll do as I say boy. I paid for this venture, I own you and this sorry excuse for a ship." Mr. Kane growled, his temper sparked and blowing out of control.

"This _sorry excuse_ of a ship is the one _you_ picked for this trip. To the Amazon, not a suicide mission…" _Dammit!_ I silently cursed as I shifted my weight, knocking over an obnoxiously placed metal bucket. Scott cut himself off abruptly at the sound, cutting off whatever he was about to say, preventing me from learning anything about Mr. Kane's plans. I pushed myself away from the wall, letting out a curse to make it less obvious I had been listening in.

"Sorry." I mumbled to the two men, standing only a foot from each other. They were evenly matched in height, but the muscle and youthful strength packed into the Captain gave him the advantage the other man's money could not.

"We'll talk about this later." I heard Kane growl to the captain before storming past me, barely avoiding ramming into my shoulder.

I raised an eyebrow at the dramatic exit, "What was that all about?" I asked, playing oblivious, if only partially. All I really knew was that Kane had an alternate agenda to the travel plans of the ship.

His jaw clenched at the mention of the man before he threw up a fake, easy smile, "Nothing, just a slight disagreement."

"Uh-huh." I decided not to press the issue, he wasn't going to follow orders from Kane so it wasn't like the crazy man's plans really mattered all that much.

"So what brings you up here?" He asked, effectively changing the subject as he returned to his post at the wheel, glancing over the charts on the screens in front of him. Presumably checking our current course.

I shrugged, "Just wondering around." I left it at that, no need for him to know I was avoiding Billy as much as possible. It was partial truth though, I hadn't been to this part of the ship yet and my curiosity demanded I explore every part of this vessel as I could.

He grinned slightly, sending me a sideways glance before returning his gaze to the charts. "Who are you avoiding?" his words stunned me and it took me a second to respond.

"Excuse me?" I stuttered out as the man's smirk simply grew.

"You may be good at hiding your emotions and what you're thinking, but you didn't end up here by chance. No one wonders around this place this late at night unless they're trying to avoid someone." he turned away from the screens, giving me his full attention and scrutiny. The smirk was still firmly planted on his face and after a second of completely looking me over he nodded to himself. "So who is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I denied, walking further into the room and past him, glancing over all of the different controls and glowing screens depicting information I had no idea how to decipher.

I could hear him chuckle behind me, calling out on my bullshit without actually saying it out loud. He didn't need to and we both knew it.

"So if you aren't avoiding anyone, why aren't you tucked away in your bed like everyone else? Or in the dining hall like the other late nighters?" he asked, suddenly a lot closer to me than he had been a few seconds ago. I had to admit, the man was ridiculously attractive.

"I felt like getting some fresh air, and I haven't seen this part of the ship yet." I snapped, leaning back as he came closer. Yes he was hot as hell, but I couldn't help comparing him to Billy. I couldn't help as his breath washed over my face think of the heated moment earlier in the day. How Billy's scent made me lose control, forget about resistance. How his voice sent shock waves down my spine and goose bumps up my arms. How the mere thought of him increased my heart rate, made my breath hitch in my throat and scramble all coherent thoughts attempting to run through my mind.

I blinked, bringing myself back to the present, shocked to find the Captain's face only a few inches from my own, a growing smirk spreading back across his face. "So who is he?" he finally asked after a long moment, backing away and returning to control panel.

"Huh?" I replied intelligently, only partially aware of what he had been asking. The smirk turned into a full out grin as he watched me.

"Who is he?" he repeated, I pursed my lips, determined to act as though I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Who's who?" I asked, looking anywhere but directly at him.

"The man you were just thinking about." my eyes shot to him, the damn knowing grin still on his face, it was getting really tempting to smack it off. I pursed my lips again, turning slightly away from him, damn determined to deny everything. "Don't even try." He stated, frowning slightly at the maps on the screens. "You can't deny it, you were thinking about him the second I got close to you."

What the hell? I'd spent years perfecting the art of masking what I was thinking. But this guy was a damned mind reader, he could see past it all, straight through to what I didn't even want to admit to myself. He paused for a long moment, simply studying my face as I remained silent, unable to deny what he had said. "Guessing from the current occupants of this ship, I'm going to say it's our resident paleontologist."

I couldn't stop the slight hitch in my breath and Scott just chuckled slightly to himself. "Definitely him, I'm going to take another wild guess that he doesn't know you're in love with him?"

I choked on the air I had been breathing in, letting out a loud cough and a "What?" that I was embarrassed to say came out more like a squeak. "I-I, I'm not in love with anyone!"

"Sure. Let's try a little experiment, I'll say a word and you say the first thing that comes to your mind, don't think, just say it." he didn't even give me a chance to agree or refuse as he spit out "Africa."

I paused for a moment, unsure of where the hell he was going with this. "Faster, don't think about it. Guns."

"Cooper." I snapped, willing to go along with whatever his plan was if it got him to drop the 'love' topic.

"Army." He threw out.

"Nash."

"Kiss."

"Billy." my mouth snapped shut as I glared at him, but he simply continued.

"Islands."

"Sorna."

"Sun."

"Texas."

"Survival."

"Work." I wondered where the hell he was going with this, it was starting to grate on my nerves. Captain Scott ignored the irritated sigh I let loose as he continued on.

"Tree."

"Russia."

"Ocean." he glanced out the window for a second before returning his attention back to me.

"Sharks."

"Dinosaurs."

"Death."

"Peace."

"Billy." I glared at the Captain again, to which he didn't respond as usual. And I guess in a way it was true, Billy brought me peace, quieted my restless mind and silenced worries if only for a little while.

"Horses." Scott continued, unfazed by the dirty looks I gave him.

"Westerns."

"Cars."

"Trucks."

"Reporters."

"Annoying." I was beginning to wonder if he ever planned on ending this thing.

"Australia."

"Outback."

"Love?"

"Bil-" I cut myself off, snapping my mouth shut so hard my teeth clanked together. I glared at the man, who still had that damned grin spread across his lips. "I'm not in love with him. I'm not in love with _anyone_." I tried to stress it, what was his obsession with my love life anyway? It wasn't his business and I'd really rather he drop it and let it be.

"Uh-huh." he turned to me, the smirk finally gone from his face, he suddenly looked a lot older than he was, more tired and world-weary than he had been a few moments ago. "Listen darlin', love, reciprocated love doesn't come around too often. And it doesn't always stay around forever." sadness sparked in his eyes as he spoke. "Don't hold yourself back because you're afraid of getting hurt. Take a leap of faith and you may find something worth keeping forever." by the time he'd finished his voice had trailed off, his eyes looking at and straight through me, back to a time when he had lived through it all.

There was a long pause as he went over the regrets he had, the chances lost and risks not taken. Then he cleared his throat, shaking his head slightly and sending me a slight, half grin. "Tell him." and that was the end of the conversation. With a slight nod to the Captain, I turned and walked out the door and onto the dark deck, leaving him to curse at the computer monitors.

A few moments later I found myself at Billy's door, hand raised to knock before I'd even realized what the hell I was doing. I shook my head, it was probably after midnight by now. I was sleep deprived and stressed, I knew I wouldn't be making the most bright choices at the moment. So instead I turned, dropping my hand and crossing over to my room, collapsing on the bed with an exhausted sigh and drifting off to sleep.

The days passed by slowly, the Captain's words running on repeat through my head, and yet I had still not gotten up the courage to say anything to Billy. Hell, I hadn't gotten the nerve to stop avoiding him yet.

Scott would give me an annoyingly knowing stare every time I saw him. Sometimes there would be a shake of a head or a nod in a certain direction, in which I would then go the opposite way.

Several days had gone by since the last…encounter with Billy and I was careful to avoid being alone with the Captain as well. I sighed as I sat in my room one evening, the fog rolling in so thick it was nearly impossible to see the water at the bow of the ship. So I sat on the edge of bed, all of my guns sprawled across the mattress as I went over every one. Taking them apart, cleaning them and putting them back together again. It was brain numbing work, so ingrained into my mind that it was all muscle memory now, but it was calming and that was exactly what I needed right now.

I hadn't the slightest clue how to approach Billy, I didn't think walking up to him and just saying "I love you." would go over all that well. I couldn't even come to complete terms with it myself. Was I in love with him? Or was it something so much simpler? Was it just infatuation? Physical attraction? Perhaps it was just plain and simple lust. After all, we survived a traumatic event together, that always affected those involved in strange ways. I nodded to myself, no it wasn't love. It was just an attachment formed on the island that I hadn't dealt with and gotten rid of yet.

I sighed, tossing the gun in my hand onto the mattress behind me as I recited the facts over and over again in my head. It was sounding like I was trying to convince myself, talk myself completely out of any crazy idea about love. But what if it was? What if for some insane reason, in a completely unknown way I had fallen in love? With Billy of all people? A man I had never even seen before boarding the doomed plane those months ago? A man that had been haunting my thoughts ever since, refusing to stay shoved down with the rest of the locked up memories.

I ran a hand through my hair, letting out a huff at the ridiculousness of the situation. Just imagine a woman like me falling in love. Me! A woman who had sworn of men and relationships the moment her father disappeared.

Grumbling to myself under my breath, I quickly put back together the gun I had been working on, grabbing the rest of the weapons, I stored them away. They didn't need to be cleaned and the room suddenly felt too small.

Stepping out of the room, I made my way up to the deck as the ship's horn blasted off into the night, echoing throughout the darkness. I was surprised at how fast it had gotten dark, and the fog was so thick I could barely see a few feet in front of me, making it seem all that much darker, even with the thin spots of light that were strewn about the ship to light up the walkways.

I glanced up toward where the control room should be-though all I could see of it was a faint outline of light-as cursing resonated out of it, slicing through the fog enough that I could barely make out the words. And they weren't ones a man would ever say in front of his mother.

The old ship groaned as it pushed its way through a large wave. Suddenly everything pitched forwards as a loud _crack_ cut through the night. '_This can't be good.'_ I thought as the ship bucked again, sending me slamming onto the hard deck.

You know that saying "It can always get worse?" Well, it just did.

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**Phew, things start moving on again! Please drop a review and tell me what you think!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**


	16. A Long Night

**Disclaimer: Must I really continue with this? I don't feel like it...you all know I don't own it, otherwise this would have been in the movie!  
**

**Thanks so much to Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, shippolove844, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, DarkFireAngel00, Nelle07, Damico and especially TaylarelloLove who continue to stick with me and make writing this story worth while! This chapter is for all of you!**

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The ship lurched before I could even get back on my feet, sending me crashing back onto the deck. I swore as the ship's horn blasted off again, the entire deck raising up as the vessel breached another large wave. Jumping up, I wrapped my arms securely around the rail as another wave slammed into the side of the ship, water pounding onto the deck and sweeping everything not fastened down overboard.

The freezing waters nearly knocked the breath out of me. Coastal waters should have been warm, but the sudden storm seemed to sap all of the heat from the ocean. My grip loosened the slightest bit after I had pulled myself up, attempting to make my way to the control room where frantic voices cut through and over the crash of the waves. A booming _CRACK_ echoed through the air and the ship jerked violently.

Water rained down, tearing my hands from the rail and ripping my feet out from under me. My hands grappled for any sort of solid hold as my body slammed and slid across the slick deck. The receding wave continued to pull, dragging me closer and closer to the edge.

My body hit the rail, my arms immediately wrapping themselves around it to keep myself from going overboard. I gasped for breath as the water fell back to the ocean, leaving me clinging to the rail with little possibility of making it back to the safety of below deck before the ocean swept me into its depths.

Light, I could see light on the ship. Not the dull, dim beacon of the lights in the control room or down the halls. But the bright inferno that cut through the fog like a knife. Fire, oh God the ship was on _fire! _The flames leapt high into the air, casting its scorching heat in every direction.

I could hear screams, screams of those trapped and dieing below deck and I could see the faint outlines of those able to make it out. Another wave tumbled over the deck in chaotic disarray, sweeping away most of those trying to escape the burning fires behind them. Between the scorching flames and the ruthless sea, how could anyone hope to survive?

My arms burned with the strain as I struggled to keep myself in place as another rogue wave slammed into me, attempting to rip me backwards across the deck. As my body pulled away from the rail with the force of the water, a wave crashed into the opposite side of the ship, sending my side dipping dangerously close to the tumbling ocean surface. The water hit me from behind, and before I had even realized what had happened, I was airborne.

I didn't get the chance to scream or wonder who and how many onboard were already dead. I didn't even have a few seconds for my life to flash before my eyes as my body plummeted to the angry waters below. I only had the time to take a deep breath.

The ocean water surrounded me, thrashing my body about like a rag doll so much I couldn't tell which way was up anymore. I only knew that it wasn't long before my lungs were burning for air and that for all the dangers I had seen in my life, I was going to die not from lions, tigers or dinosaurs, but from drowning in a shipwreck.

I inhaled as much as I could when miraculously my head breached the surface, granting my body the much needed oxygen. I couldn't swim, after all, where would I go? I had no idea which way was land, and it was unlikely I would be able to fight the current for that long regardless. Death was coming, it was just a simple matter of time.

The water pulled me down again, further and further into the dark depths. I felt like just letting my body sink, instead of fighting and delaying the inevitable. But my mind wouldn't allow me to give up, no matter how much my strained muscles begged me too.

I fought on, forcing my tired body to move, to struggle back towards the surface. When I broke through the water once again, the roar of the flames sounding like a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier. Over half the ship was engulfed in the scorching fire and I could barely make out small figures flying off of the deck. Yellow life rafts were deployed, the flashing emergency beacons the only beacon of hope out here.

It took every ounce of strength I had left to push myself through the waves, which continued their relentless pounding and pulling on my body, trying to drag me under. I didn't allow myself to stop, knowing I wouldn't be able to get myself going again if I did. I kept pushing, forcing my limbs to move, getting closer to one of the rafts inch by painful inch.

I couldn't focus on anything but pushing myself on, every movement was agonizing, physically and mentally. My body begged for rest, while my mind asked what was the point? It was extraordinarily unlikely anyone would survive this. I could feel my muscles cramping, attempting to seize and lock up. I forced myself to keep moving on, the raft was close, so very close.

A wave came up, lifting the raft several feet above me and I could see it was empty. It felt like it took hours, but I finally managed to grab a hold of the raft, using energy I didn't have to pull myself into it.

I rolled over the edge and let myself go limp, resting my head on the bloated ledge. The air burned my throat as I panted, attempting to get the oxygen I needed. I looked over at what was left of the ship, now completely engulfed in flames and much deeper in the water than it had been before.

Suddenly, the entire thing exploded, sending shrapnel and debris raining down. I didn't have the strength to move, so I just laid and watched as the pieces fell from the sky and the ship slowly sunk into the depths of the ocean. A chunk of metal came careening directly towards the raft, the sharp point slapping against the emergency beacon and effectively ripping it clear off.

The waters continued to thrash the raft around, so after wrapping my arm through the safety rope on the side of the raft, I finally let the pure exhaustion take over and let the darkness consume me.

I blearily opened my eyes as water splashed over my face, momentarily blocking my ability to breath. My body was still exhausted and my limbs felt like lead as I tried to move. Somehow the raft had torn, and the water was coming over the deflated sides as it slowly sank.

Forcing myself to at least sit up, I looked around, attempting to see anything useful in the dim light the early dawn provided. Less than a mile away I could see the bow of the _USS Darcy_ smoking above the water, caught on what appeared to be a huge rock jutting out from the waves.

It was probably what had made the ship sink in the first place, but it being out there meant that land wasn't far away. Sure enough, as I turned to look behind me, I could see a beach, rocky in most parts but with a small patch of sand at the water's edge not 50 yards from where I was.

The raft was filling with water fast and with no other options left to me, I forced my cramping body to move back into the ocean. The water almost seemed warmer now that the ocean had calmed, the waves considerably smaller than what they had been hours before.

It felt like a lifetime had past before I felt the sandy ocean floor on my fingertips. On all fours, I drug myself up out of the water, not quite sure if the tide was in or not. I made it almost six feet from the ocean's reach before I went limp, my exhausted limps refusing to movie another inch.

Panting, I simply let the darkness consume me again, welcoming the comforting reprieve from the pain and weariness.

By the time I woke again, the sun was nearing the horizon, threatening to take away all sources of light. Groaning, I pulled my aching body off of the sand, attempting to wipe most of the grains off of my face.

My muscles protested the movement but I knew I couldn't stay in that spot forever. I needed to move, find a safe place for the night before worrying about food, water, survivors and finding civilization.

I wasn't exactly sure where the hell I was, if this was an uncharted island or a remote part of Costa Rica, so I didn't know exactly what type of predators came out at night. Taking a few steps past the tree line, I looked around for a climbable tree, knowing that gaining height was the safest place to be at night.

I found one ten yards in and struggled to pull myself up the thick vines coiled around the trunk. My arms hurt like hell but I knew it was better to be in pain and still alive then dead.

It took over four times longer than usual to get to a safe height and by the time I got there I was exhausted and wore out all over again. Sitting in a secure place where the trunk split out in several directions, over 20 feet above the ground, I leaned back against the bark and let myself slip back into sleep.

Branches cracked and leaves rustled as something trampled over them, not at all attempting to remain quiet. I blearily opened my eyes and attempted to look down at whatever was passing below, but the overcast night blocked any light the moon could have shed and covered whatever creature was down there.

Soft growls echoed up to my ears as the footsteps increased, letting me know the number of creatures was growing. The animals continued on, leaving me once again in relative silence and I closed my eyes for more rest before the sun rose.

Not even an hour had passed before a scream cut through the still air, jolting me awake and sending chills down my spine. It wasn't startled scream or one of surprise. No, it was a scream of pure and utter fear, the blood-chilling sound of inevitable, oncoming death.

The sound continued for what seemed like hours, but was only mere seconds before it cut off abruptly. I closed my eyes, hearing the scream continue on in my head and knowing it would join the numerous other sites and sounds that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

I kept my eyes clenched tight as I tried to drown out the noise from my mind. What the hell was out there that did that? Perhaps a wildcat had gotten to someone who'd remained on the ground.

There was no sleeping after that, so I simply sat there, hugging my knees to my chest and finally allowing myself to think about the others. Had the Captain made it off? Roland? Mr. Kane I didn't much care for and as heartless as I felt for thinking it, I couldn't bring myself to hope he had survived. There were the countless other innocent passengers whose names I had never heard.

But most importantly, the one I didn't want to think about because it just _hurt_ so damn much was Billy. Would he make it through the night? Was he the one that had screamed? Or had he not made it to shore? Had he been pulled into the depths of the ocean and drowned? What if he had not even made it off the ship? I had no idea where he had been when everything went to hell. It was entirely possible that he had never made it from below deck, had been trapped by the flames.

My heart clenched painful as all of the different scenarios ran through my mind. The '_What if'_s were killing me and all I could do was tighten my hold on my legs and let the tears fall silently from my eyes.

I've experience pain before, the mind-numbing, feel-like-you're-dying pain. I'd been scratched by lions, bitten by wolves, mauled by an Alaskan Grizzly, hell, I was even torn into by damn Spinosaurus! But knowing it was unlikely Billy was still alive brought on a pain that was something entirely different. It was agonizing without any physical wound. It was a pain that didn't make me feel like I was dying, but it didn't make me feel alive.

This wasn't the kind of pain that urged me to sleep, this was the hurt that kept me awake. It was the gut-wrenching agony that told me it wasn't worth fighting anymore.

But along with all of heartache, there was a minuscule voice in the back of my mind, whispering to have hope. That all wasn't lost. That I had made it, so it was possible Billy had too.

I clung to that spark of hope throughout the long hours of the night, promising myself that once the sun rose in the morning, I would find the other survivors.

And pray Billy was among them.

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think, they keep me going!  
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**Black Wolf-Dog**


	17. A Long Day: Search for Survivors

**Disclaimer: Don't own...yadda yadda yadda**

**Yay a quick update! And a longer one too! Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews! This chap is for: The one and only TaylarelloLove, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 , DarkFireAngel00, mysterygirl123 , Damico, shippolove844 , Nelle07, Random Fan and all of my loyal readers!**

**Warning: The next chap may be a while coming, my laptop crashed (thankfully I had this chap saved to a flash drive!) and I am forced to share the family computer for the unforseeable future. I am also looking for a job and preparing to start college in the fall, so my writing time is being chopped into little pieces. :( Please bare with me, I WILL finish this story!  
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The wild animals stayed quiet for the rest of the night and the silence was almost deafening. I never thought I would be so happy to see the sky lighten, or hear the birds chirping as dawn approached…

I frowned as I realized there _weren't_ birds chirping. Even with the sun breaching the horizon, the only noise I could hear was the gentle splashing of the waves hitting the shore.

Shoving the odd occurrence to the back of my mind, I leaned to check the ground below, satisfied when I saw nothing moving around. Slowly, but as quickly as my sore muscles would allowed, I scaled the tree back down to the ground.

Figuring that the beach would be the most likely spot to find survivors, I headed back out, rubbing my eyes as my stomach growled its frustration at not being fed in nearly 36 hours.

A few yards from where I had crawled out of the ocean, the deflated and torn raft sat stuck on a rock, threatening to be swept back out by the water. Carefully making my way over, I grabbed the useless floatation, figuring that if nothing else, the bright yellow color could be used to flag down a passing plane or ship.

After pulling the raft a safe distance away from the water's reach, I glanced down both directions of the beach, wondering which would be the best bet for finding survivors. The way to my right turned mostly into rocks, sharp, jagged and not at all passable.

So I went left, where the sand continued to stretch on, eventually disappearing in the distance were the land curved inward. I still had no idea where I was, but I had the suspicion that this wasn't the mainland, it couldn't be based on the direction the ship had been going unless the waves had spun it around. I doubted it though, and so I could only hope that either this island had some sort of civilization on it, or was visited frequently by the mainlanders. Otherwise, who knew how long I could be trapped here.

I looked out across the water, hoping to see some faint outline of the coast. But there was nothing, nothing but open water. Just how off course had we gone? Sighing, I continued my trek down the beach, hoping to find someone or something from the ship. Preferably food or water as my throat was beyond parched.

Up ahead there was a flash of yellow in the water, and I immediately picked up my pace. It was another raft, in slightly better condition as the other, but still near deflated and useless in the terms of keeping anything above the water.

Unfortunately it was empty, no sign or trace of another human being anywhere close to it. There were some odd tracks surrounding it on the sand, but they looked like bird prints so I shrugged it off, pulling the raft further onto shore before moving on. The locator beacon on that raft had been destroyed too.

A few yards further down, something bobbed in the water, and I sent up a silent thanks to God as I pulled the water canteen from the ocean. Luckily it was completely full to.

I allowed myself only a few drinks, knowing I needed to conserve it and drinking so much after being dehydrated was not a very smart thing to do. Adjusting the canteen's strap, I flung it over my shoulder before moving on, keeping an eye out for anything.

It didn't take too long before I caught sight of an unnatural looking lump half in the water. Rushing over, I realized it was one of the passengers, lying flat on his stomach with his face pressed into the sand.

I doubted he was alive, but I felt for a pulse anyways, rolling him over to see if anything could be done. I barely repressed the gag as his half charred face turned upwards, the stench of death and salt water reaching my nose.

I quickly jumped away from the body, facing away from it to prevent the bile I could feel in my throat from coming up. Moving on, I kept my thoughts away from the corpse, _no_, I thought bitterly, a man, a man whose life had been cut short. But I couldn't find it in myself to feel sorry for him, only relief, relief that it hadn't been Billy's face staring unseeing at the sky.

As I continued my trek down the beach, the pieces of wreckage grew in number. It was mainly small, twisted scraps of useless metal that I left where they were.

The sun continued its climb across the sky as the long, lonely hours passed. None of the eight bodies I had found had been anyone I knew, and I couldn't help the sickening feeling in my gut every time I felt absolutely nothing but happiness when I realized the body wasn't Billy. There was still hope, but it was diminishing as the body count grew higher.

With a sigh I approached yet another human lump, praying it wasn't the man that had stolen my heart. When I was close enough to make out the details I froze, my whole body refusing to move an inch. Even the breath in my throat stopped and it felt as if my heart paused for a moment as well.

I had thought the half burned man had been bad, it had made the bile rise in my throat. But this, this was so much worse. I lunged for the trees, heaving up whatever had still been in my nearly empty stomach.

When my body had heaved enough, I wiped my mouth, stealing myself to get a closer look at the remains, determined to stay long enough to determine if I knew the man. I had sworn to only look at his face for the seconds necessary, but I found my eyes first falling on his torso.

What was left of it anyways.

They were ripped and torn to shreds, organs missing and pieces littering the trampled ground around the body. Dried blood caked the ground, a trail drug through the sand towards the ocean. Where the man had been dragged, alive for some twenty feet.

It didn't take connecting many dots to determine this was who had screamed the previous night. This was the man the wild creatures had claimed. Scraps were what remained. A stump for a right leg was all that was left below the belt, even half of the ribs were gone, some scattered about in the sand.

His face was completely coated in blood, making him unrecognizable. Grimacing and fighting off the intense urge to heave again, I picked up a large chunk of somewhat clean cloth that had been ripped from his body and wiped off his face.

His death had been brutal and painful, and there was only one creature I had ever seen capable of doing damage like that.

_Raptor._ The word echoed like a death sentence in my mind and I had to squeeze my eyes shut for a long moment to regain control over myself. _No._ _No._ I shook my head, there was no way it was possible. Those cursed islands had been further from us than the mainland, we simply _couldn't_ have crashed onto them, let alone been unlucky enough to land on Sorna.

No, it wasn't a prehistoric, should-be-dead dinosaur that did this, it was a jungle cat that did the original damage. And perhaps other animals had scavenged off of it throughout the day.

Opening my eyes back up, I pushed the ridiculous thoughts out of my head, determined to identify this man and move on. It only took uncovering half of his face before I realized that I had seen this man before. He'd been a passenger than had seemed just a little too excited to go to the Amazon, and had hovered around Kane far too much. I didn't know him personally though, I never cared to learn his name and I was thankful at that point in time. It made it easier, in a sense, to leave his body there and continue on.

An hour or so later I finally collapsed on the sand, my legs too exhausted to carry me any further. I wanted to cry, I could feel the tears prickling at the back of my eyes. It was entirely possible that I wouldn't fine anyone alive. That some bodies would never be recovered, that some had been claimed forever by the sea, that others could have been taken by the current somewhere else.

The thought hurt more than I imagined it could. I was an independent woman by nature, I preferred to be by myself. But the thought of being completely _alone_ in this place for an undefined length of time terrified me far more than it should have. As much as I wanted to find Billy, I knew that it was getting more and more unlikely that I would ever find him, and even less likely he'd been alive as well. At this moment, I would take any human company, even Kane's if it meant I didn't have to go through all of this alone.

Somehow I managed to hold back the tears, and simply sat on the beach in the late afternoon sun, starring out at the vast expanse of ocean before me.

How much further should I go? I had already spent most of the day heading in the same direction, and I knew it would be nearly dark by the time I reached my starting point if I turned back now. For the first time since I had started in my business, I was at a complete loss as to what to do. Survivors could be just a mile further down the beach, but they could have also washed up on the opposite side of my starting point, perhaps just around the bend.

With a groan I let my head fall against my knees, praying for some sort of answer. Something that would tell me what to do. Keep going or turn back? It was all a confusing mush of straggling thoughts that I was finding extraordinarily difficult to make any sense of. It didn't help that my stomach was beyond empty and the lack of food was making me dizzy and giving me a pounding headache.

I have no idea how long I sat like that, as time just seemed to disappear as I struggled to formulate some sort of survival plan. I froze when I heard the faintest sound over the crashing waves, holding my breath as my tired brain tried to figure out what it was. It sounded again, a little louder and a smidgen clearer, but still not enough for me to register completely what it was. It sounded like….a voice. But whose? What was it saying? I shook my head, knowing the heat and lack of food was getting to me, that my mind was starting to play tricks on me.

"Lexi!" my head shot up as the voice cut through my foggy brain as clear as the sun above. My heart stuttered, unable to believe what it was hearing.

The sun nearly blinded me as I tried to see in the direction the painfully familiar voice had come in. Who was it? Where was he? There was a small part of my brain that said I really should have made finding food a first priority but I ignored it in favor of forcing myself to try and connect the voice with a face.

Almost too quickly I pulled myself up, swaying for a moment as my head pounded even more. Stumbling, I tried to make my way towards the man whose outline I could see running towards me. I tried forcing myself to go faster, but my body simply refused, allowing only my swaying steps and tilting balance.

As he came closer, the sun cast an almost angelic light around him, and indeed he was an angel. An answer to my prayers for some human company, for another survivor.

He finally reached me just as my legs gave up the fight. Strong arms wrapped themselves around me, softening my landing as he sunk to his knees with me, keeping me close as his grip tightened.

"My God Lexi." his voice muttered into my tangled hair, his arms fully engulfing me in his embrace. The comfort he provided and the security I finally felt with his presence brought on a new wave of tears, which poured freely from my eyes as I hugged him back.

"Billy." I whispered before my mind had even fully processed it was indeed him I was clinging to. He was alive, oh thank God he was alive! And he was here, here right in front of me, in my arms, kneeling on the sand as I shook with sobs I hadn't known had started.

With him there I finally let the full effect of everything that had happened hit me, of all that I had seen, of all that I had been forced to _do_. I shook even harder as the sobs increased, a part in happiness that he was here, but a large part in grief as my entire world once again crashed down on me.

I had no concept of time as I cried my heart out, as for the first time I let every raw emotion out at once. We stayed in the same position, taking as much comfort as we could from each other, rejoicing that we were no longer alone, no longer suffering and trying to survive by ourselves.

When I finally pulled back enough to actually get a good look at him, I noticed the tear tracks running down his face along with the relieved smile spread across his lips as he brushed my hair away from my face and leaned his forehead against mine. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again, looking directly at me as I stared at him, trying to commit every detail of his face to memory.

"I thought you were dead." he whispered, refusing to move another inch away, not that I would let him as my hands were still firmly locked behind his neck.

"So did I." I stated quietly, knowing that if I had any tears left, they would be streaking their way down my cheeks.

Our lips met in the middle, a clash of pure, unadulterated, raw emotions. It was everything and nothing, two of a kind seeking reassurance that it was possible things could work out. A confirmation that the other was real, that we were together and could make it through this.

It was probably the least romantic thing in the world, stranded in an unknown place, surrounded by a beach full of wreckage and bodies. Covered in sand, sweat, blood and tears. But neither of us could care less, we had what we so desperately needed at that moment. And as the kiss deepened, I knew it would give me the strength and courage to face whatever may happen next.

I pulled away, keeping a hold of him as I looked out towards the setting sun. As much as I didn't want to, I knew we couldn't stay there. "We need to move. It's too dangerous to spend the night on the ground."

"Now there's the Lexi I know, always in survival mode." he said with a small grin, pulling me to my feet as he stood. "I know a good place to sleep." he turned away, wrapping my hand tight in his as he led the way.

"Have you found any other survivors?" I asked, keeping my mind focused completely on him to avoid thinking about how utterly exhausted my body was.

Billy grimaced as he trudged on, shaking his head, "No, no one alive. And no recognizable bodies the animals haven't gotten to." I couldn't help the shudder that shot through me as the partially devoured man popped to the forefront of my mind.

"Do.." I was afraid to ask, terrified of having my suspicions confirmed. The last thing I wanted was that little voice in the back of my mind proven correct. "Do you know where we are?" I finally choked out, wishing almost immediately that I could take it back.

"Unfortunately." he murmured, showing me his left arm that was covering in cuts and gouges that appeared no more than a day or two old. "Woke up to the damn things gnawing on me." he stated, nodding towards the tree line, where several of the bird-like tracks I had seen by one of the rafts zigzagged around. They looked fresh, too fresh for my liking. "We're back Lexi. We're on Isla Sorna."

My breath caught in my throat as his words sunk my gut like a rock dropped into the river. My grip on his hand tightened as I struggled to keep myself moving. We were back, back on the god-forsaken island. Back with the prehistoric monsters the money-making bastards had been stupid enough to create. Fear shot through me to the core, freezing my blood and blocking all heat the sinking sun offered. We had _barely_ made it out alive the last time, how could we survive a second?

I shook my head, trying to get a hold of myself as I realized letting my emotions get to me now wasn't going to do anything for our situation. It was time to do my job and go into my work mode, shut out the emotions and push all other worries besides keeping us alive aside. It would be difficult I knew to bottle up my feelings for Billy, impossible to clamp out all of them. But it was necessary, we could fret over and discuss where this 'relationship' was going after we lived long enough to be rescued….again.

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think of all this! No worries, things will start moving along quicker as survivors are found, enemies dealt with, wreckage dug through and dinosaurs run from!**

**Black Wolf-Dog**


	18. Following the Tracks

**Disclaimer: yadda yadda, i don't own.**

**Thank you all so much for sticking with me! Thank the good Lord my computer was saved! And now I'm officially graduated from high school too! (It rained during the entire ceremony, Class of 2011, the drowned rats! haha). Without further ado, this chapter is for my ever faithful reviewers whom I selfishly want to keep for myself! Thanks so much DarkFireAngel00, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, Midnight Cheesecake O.o, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, shippolove844, My Lady Vader, Nelle07, Damico, Random Fan and of course my bestie TaylarelloLove, who's constant 'just shut up and write's helped me get this done! Enjoy!  
**

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As I followed Billy back to wherever he was leading me, I kept my eyes scouring the terrain, watching for any sign of movement. There was a flash of green in the brush, and the bird-like footprints were all over the place. Compys, I believe Billy had called them once, they must have been what had scratched up his arms.

My stomach rolled as I thought back to the man that had been killed during the night. My mind had told me it was raptors, their 6-inch killing claws made it all too easy for them to tear into the tender flesh of a human, especially the torso. The dying screams echoed around my head as I remembered someone saying raptors start their feasting while the victim is still alive.

I shoved it out of my mind, letting it instead focus for just a fraction of a second at how cliché it was that my hand seemed to fit so perfectly into Billy's. Something reflecting the sun's dying light caught my attention and I jumped towards it, afraid it was just my imagination and would disappear into the sand.

It stayed solid as I gripped the blade and pulled it free of the sand. I frowned as I looked it over, pulling up the sheath before walking back to rejoin Billy. It was a hunting knife, used to cut the throats of still dying animals. But the 8-inch blade wasn't one of mine, someone else on that boat had a weapon-and possibly more-that were capable of cutting through the tough hide of a rhino, or a dinosaur.

I shrugged it off, it was probably something used on the ship for some reason or another. Strapping the sheath to my right thigh, I kept my eyes peeled for anything else that could be potentially useful.

"This way." he stated, turning to enter into the trees. I couldn't help but be far more cautious than I had before when I entered through the tree line, a hand resting on the hilt of the knife-not that it would do much against a raptor -but the fact that it was there gave me _some_ semblance of comfort that Billy could not.

Just as the sun tipped below the horizon, casting an eerie glow on everything, we reached the place he had been leading me to. It was an old tree-no, it was an _ancient _tree- the trunk itself was large enough to fit a full sized car inside with room to spare. The wood was dark with age as the tree somehow managed to stay alive even though 30 feet up the entire thing had been cut in half by lightning. It was black and charred, a nearly fatal wound for the giant. But even in the fading light I could see the green sprouting from the burned wood. This tree had been hit years ago, so long that the top half had been buried and grown over, an odd lump in the earth the only proof it was ever there.

Billy motioned for me to climb, "The strike hollowed it out at the top, should be a safe spot to sleep." I nodded as I started the climb, the vines had only partially taken hold, but the old tree provided many of its own handholds and steps. When I got to the top I found that Billy was spot on in calling this a safe place.

It was hollowed out like a bowl, the bottom flattened and large enough for five people to sleep comfortably while the outmost shell of the trunk rose a good four feet. High enough to prevent anyone from rolling out of the tree in their sleep. All in all, it was the perfect place for two people to try and survive a night on Isla Sorna. Unless the Pteranodons were still here, then we were easy pickings.

"Billy." I started, landing with a _thumb_ and relaxing back, a clear view of the brightening stars open to us. "Whatever happened to those Pteranodons that we set loose the last time we were here?" I felt more than saw him look at me as I continued to watch the stars appear, the sun's haunting glow on the island losing its grip as night took over.

"One tried to nest in Hawaii and was taken care of by the coast guard before it even had a chance to land. Another was shot down somewhere in Mexico. The third never showed up anywhere, Ingen claims it drowned." I could hear the blatant disgust in his voice as he spit out the company's name.

"But no body was found." I finished, grimacing at the likelihood the animal had come back. It would be unusual but these were _dinosaurs_, their mere existence defied all logic. Neither of us spoke after that, lost in our own thoughts as the sliver of a moon rose up into the sky, nearly outshined by the stars around it.

The night dragged on in a tense silence, both of us waiting to hear the tell-tale calls of the predators on the island. It was relatively quiet, and sleep eventually came to me, but it was uneasy. Every sound had me jerking awake, preparing to fight off whatever tree-climbing-animal had come to eat us.

Nothing happened, but I knew we were lucky, and the longer we stayed in one place, hell the longer we stayed on this blasted island, the less chances we had of that luck holding up.

I found it harder to scour the beach for supplies and survivors the next morning, and I couldn't help my eyes darting to the trees, looking for the slightest irregularity that could be a predator waiting to pounce. Thankfully for my sanity and my stomach, not only did nothing happen for the first few hours of daylight, but Billy and I also found a large box washed up on the beach, full of canned food.

Within the same area there was a salvageable backpack that we were able to pack away most of the food into after we had both eaten our fill. Billy then slung it over his shoulders, giving me a look to silence any oncoming protests at him carrying all of it.

It had to be approaching noon soon and with the water canteen getting low, I knew we couldn't spend much longer out here. We needed to find a fresh water source and a safe place to camp along with making a plan to get rescued. Besides setting the entire island on fire, I couldn't think of a plausible way to get off the island.

"Lexi, come look at this." Billy's voice broke me from my thoughts as I shifted through a tangled mess of metal and seaweed. With a sigh, I dropped what was in my hands and walked over to where he was standing, staring down at the sand.

My spirits soared as I recognized the very human footprints walking away from the water and into the forest. They quickly sunk when I noticed the footprints of what could only be raptors following the tracks. "What are the chances?" Billy asked, I could see on his face that he wanted to follow the tracks, but was weary to do so. He remembered the trap the raptors had set with Udesky as clearly as I did.

"Slim to none." I answered truthfully. "But there is always that off chance someone defies the odds. Look at us, we survived the first trip here and the ship wreck that got us stranded the second time."

"So do we follow the prints?" Billy asked after a moment, looking from me to the trees.

Honestly, I had no idea, the man could already be dead. Or alive and completely alone, having no idea where he was or how to survive. "We haven't heard anymore screams." I stated mostly to myself as I struggled to make a decision. I didn't want us walking into a trap, but my conscious couldn't let a man die simply because I was too scared to do anything about it. "I say we follow, just, cautiously. We might get lucky and find him alive."

Billy let out a breath before threading his right hand through my left and starting for the trees. I kept my other hand on the hilt of the knife as we cautiously walked further away from the ocean. The sandy ground was starting to disappear as the dirt and vegetation took over, making the tracking harder. Fortunately I was pretty good at it, especially in tracking people thanks to my stints with Search and Rescue unit when I was younger.

It looked like the pack split up pretty readily, only one set of raptor tracks stayed on the human trail. We continued deeper and deeper into the trees as I let Billy keep watch of our surroundings while I struggled to read the ground. For a moment I wondered if I had lost the trail when the raptor tracks broke off into a different direction, but the distinct path of an inexperienced human clearly ran straight on.

"Billy." I said quietly, crouched down at the junction where the animal disappeared. "This doesn't make sense, with the pack surrounding him, why would the rear split off? What would make raptors cease the hunt?"

Taking a prolonged look around us, Billy then squatted down next to me, looking down the clear trail of the person and then the less noticeable path the raptor took. "A bigger predator entering the area?"

I shook my head as I studied the tracks harder. "The predator would have had to be close enough we could see its tracks," I paused to look around, but the area was relatively undisturbed, and too dense for anything huge like a Spinosaurus to come through. "Nothing else came through here recently and these tracks are the same age." I stood from my crouched position, the facts not lining up right. "Those raptors were right behind him and they just left him alone, you can't tell me that makes a lick of sense."

Billy frowned as he tried to piece things together in his mind, but I could tell he was as clueless as I was. What would make a pack of one of the smartest animals alive ditch a sure meal?

I cast another glance around, but the tall, dark underbrush made it difficult to see anything shorter than 5 feet, and that made me uncomfortable. After all, most raptors were about the height when crouched for the attack.

"Come on, our chances of finding him alive just doubled." I said, making sure to keep my voice down, even as it seemed to echo in my ears. Grabbing Billy's hand, I pulled him along behind me as I followed the tracks, eager for a break in the trees and vegetation so I could breath at least a little easier.

I was stupid, oh so bloody, insanely and ridiculously stupid. I let my-rational though it may be-fear of the 'what could be in the shadows' blind me. I allowed the instinctual, human side of me take over the reasoning. I made the stupid, stupid, _stupid _rookie mistake, of letting the fear get to me, of forgetting my surroundings, and forgetting all of my training. And for it, I almost walked face first into dinosaur.

I stood frozen as the raptor and I stared each other down. Well, I think it was a type of raptor anyway. He was a bit shorter than the others, and his face was wider. But he had sharp teeth and the sickle-shaped killing claw and that was all that mattered.

The thing hissed and bared its teeth, raising the feathers on his head as he crouched. I sucked in a breath as I let my hand slowly grasp the hilt of the hunting knife, preparing myself to run like hell.

You know those crappy movies where at a moment like this time just seems to stop? Well…it happens in real life too. There was no time to be thinking over plans or anything like that. But there was time enough for me to notice the fine details of the animal's rough and leathery skin, how his feathers were thicker than that of the Velociraptors. How his killing claw was smaller, and was inching its way off of the ground.

It was that split second observation that clued me in he was about to pounce, and it saved my life. With a growl and a hiss, he jumped. Belatedly I realized Billy still had my other hand as I felt a sharp tug as the animal lunged towards me.

Tearing my hand out of Billy's grasp, I swung the knife-wielding hand around, slashing at the dinosaur as he landed on me, his claws scratching across my skin as his full weight slammed into me.

I hit the ground with a grunt, the creature on top of me moving sluggishly. Without thinking I brought the knife back down again, sending it through the animal's eye. It let out a screech that sounded too much like a raptor before going still.

The call echoed in my head, drowning out Billy's frantic calls as he struggled to pull the thing off of me. Coughing, I pushed the dead dinosaur off, sitting up as I wrenched the blade free.

Billy was tugging on my arm, urging me to stand. Finally the creature's dying scream faded out of my mind as his voice came into focus. "Lexi!" he barked, making me snap out of my daze as I finally looked up at him.

My heart raced as I slipped into panic mode at the sight of his blood covered jacket. The last minute replayed over and over in my mind as I tried to figure out when he could have gotten hurt. How bad did the dinosaur get him?

"Lexi!" he shouted, shaking my shoulders slightly before cupping my face in his hands, forcing me to look directly into his hazel eyes. "Are you alright?"

I frantically searched him as best I could with my eyes, looking for any gaping, fatal wounds. "It's not mine Lexi." he said quieter, understanding somehow what I had been thinking. "Are you hurt?" he asked again.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart as I took inventory of my own body. But the adrenaline kick hadn't subsided yet and it left me numb and shaking. "I don't think so." I whispered, getting control enough of myself to look behind me.

The knife had done it's job, the first slash had split open its chest-that must have been where the blood on Billy came from - and the second hit had gone straight through the center of the eye all the way to its brain.

"Come on, we need to get out of here. Everything within miles of us would have heard the racket that thing created." Billy said, taking charge when he realized I hadn't reined my control all of the way back in yet.

I nodded, picking up the knife from the ground-when I had dropped it I honestly couldn't remember- and let him pull me up. "Right, we need to get this blood off of us as soon as possible too." I stated as the adrenaline high finally came down, allowing me to regain a level-head.

Billy nodded, tugging me along, "I think I can hear a creek nearby, we can wash off there." Fortunately he was right, there was a small stream running through the brush. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get most of the blood off. It was stained into both of our shirts, but enough had been scrubbed off that it wouldn't attract any predators. It shouldn't at least.

"So what the hell was that thing?" I asked as I hung up the wet shirt on a low branch and got to work washing out the cuts the thing had given me. Luckily it hadn't gotten a good blow and the worst of them had already stopped bleeding.

"Looked like a Dromaeosaurus." he stated as he crouched in front of me, pulling my arms away so he could get a good look at my stomach where the damage had been done. I gave him a blank stare, after all, _he _was the dinosaur expert here, not me. "A relative of the Velociraptor, their in the same family. Like dogs, dinosaurs have a lot of sub breeds of each specie."

"Wonderful." I muttered, wondering just what the hell else we could run into out here. Maybe T-rex's cousin or the Spinosaur's great uncle. Billy ran his thumb over the longest and deepest scratch, obviously done by the Dromaeosaur's killing claw. It might give an annoying twinge, but it wasn't anything serious enough to hamper my movements. The feeling of Billy's hand running over my bare skin on the other hand…

I really hope he didn't notice how I sucked in a breath at the contact, how I couldn't keep my eyes from running across his bare chest and how I was mesmerized by the way his muscles shifted as he moved around.

Damn it, we were stranded on an island with man-eating, prehistoric dinosaurs-one of which just almost killed me- and the man _still_ managed to distract me from concentrating on my job.

What the hell was wrong with me?

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**Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Reviews are like crack, help feed my addiction- it keeps my fingers moving! :)**

**~Black Wolf-Dog**

**P.S. Please let me know if there is a specific dinosaur you would like to see!** **I spent forever finding that darned Dromaeosaurus, so help me spend more time writing and less time searching!**


	19. Survivors and Revelations

**Disclaimer: Don't own...yadda yadda**

**Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews! We reached 100! A little treat for you all for being so awesome to me! A special thanks to xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, shippolove844, DarkFireAngel00, Damico, Random Fan, Utahraptor and of course TaylarelloLove. **

**I've got two movie quotes (from different movies) in here, let's see who can get them! Enjoy!**

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After he was sure my injuries were superficial he (finally) backed off and I was able to breath easy again. There was just something about that man that drove my senses crazy. It wasn't a good thing when we were stuck out here and I needed to be totally focused.

Once we finished washing the Dromaeosaurus' blood off of ourselves, I filled some of the spare but empty water canteens, wondering if we would ever get a chance to boil it enough to be safe. Once the three spares had been topped off, we grabbed our shirts, slinging them over our shoulders as we returned to the dead dinosaur.

I grimaced as already Compy's had swarmed the body, chirping madly as they tore at the animal's flesh. "It won't be long before bigger predators smell the blood and come sniffing around." Billy stated as he caught size of the green, chicken sized scavengers.

I nodded my agreement as I re-found the trail the possible survivor had left. I really hoped he was still alive and that this wasn't all a waste of time. Sighing, I wrung out my shirt once more before hooking it through a belt loop on my cargo pants, wishing the humidity of this place would drop just a tad.

It didn't take long for the sweat to start rolling down my skin. While it was hot on the beach in the direct sunlight, it was bloody suffocating under the trees, where the heat seemed to just cling to me in an unbearable grim.

After an hour of following the tracks to seemingly nowhere, Billy and I paused for a break, both of us wondering if it was even worth it to continue on.

A rumbling roar shook the ground around us, setting deep into my bones and sending chills down my spine. It had come from back behind us. I looked at Billy, the unspoken question hanging between us.

"Tyrannosaur." He answered, "Must have found the body." I nodded silently, keeping a wary eye on our surroundings. The Rex may have been miles behind us, but who knew what was lurking nearby.

"Any idea where we are?" I asked, I hadn't been able to recognize anything we had gone by yet, and the sinking of my gut only got deeper as I fully realized how big this island was.

"Not a clue. We must have been on the other side of it the last time we were here." He responded, using his still damp shirt to wipe some of the sweat off of his neck. I did the same, grimacing at the dampness of everything and wishing my shirt would dry enough to be put back on. Walking around in nothing but a sports bra was bloody miserable, especially since the bugs were everywhere. I mentally cursed InGen and all of their brilliant ideas of not only recreating dinosaurs but of introducing mosquitoes to the island.

"We'll follow the tracks for a few more miles, then we should find a safe place to spend the night." I stated, moving forward once again. My stomach itched and eventually I threw the still damp tank top on to keep the bugs off of the scratches.

Time continued to drag on as we followed the tracks, nearly losing it several times. The going was slow the deeper we went, and the muggier if felt as the sun trekked across the sky.

The buzzing in my ears from the bugs continued even after the majority of them finally left us alone. The buzz, our breathing and the occasional snapping of twigs and crunch of leaves beneath our feet were the only noises that seemed to echo throughout the trees. We were both getting exhausted and there was still no sign there were any other survivors.

I was starting to lose hope we would ever find anybody. I swayed slightly as a sudden wave of dizziness swept over me. Before I even realized what was happening, I was on the ground, Billy's arms wrapped firmly around my waist as he sat, letting my body lean back into his chest.

"Jesus Lexi, when's the last time you drank anything?" he asked, pulling out one of the canteens and holding it up to my lips.

I tried to push it away, "We need to save it." I stated, wishing the damn world would stop spinning.

"Saving it won't do you any good, now drink. We both had the river water last time and we were fine." He didn't give me much of a choice as he tipped the canteen.

Admittedly, I did feel better and not as woozy once I had a few drinks, but it hadn't completely passed yet, so I let myself stay where I was for a moment more.

A cool cloth was dabbed across my forehead before Billy pulled it back, pouring more creek water onto it before doing it to himself. It wasn't much, but it did feel good and it helped straighten my head enough I could stand up again.

"Lexi we should rest. You're in no condition to be walking." I turned to look at him and the guilt hit me full force. He was almost dripping sweat and looked just as miserable as I was. He shouldn't have to be here, he shouldn't have to go through all of this again. I knew it wasn't my fault we ended up back here, but I still felt responsible for pulling him onto this wild goose chase across the island.

"We have to find him Billy. I can't rest knowing there's someone out there with no idea where we are or how to survive." He was right of course, we both needed to rest. But I couldn't, not just yet.

I forced myself to continue on, praying this wasn't all in vain. Not even ten minutes later I froze in my tracks, straining to separate the real noises from the buzzing in my head. My pace quickened and once glance at Billy proved he had heard it too.

He grabbed my hand, a grin flashing across his face as the sound got louder and more distinguished, it was a human voice! When we broke through the tall vegetation, I almost let out a cry of relief. It may have not been my most favorite person in the world, but seeing someone else alive was a blessing, even if it was the one and only Richard Kane.

The best part was that he wasn't alone. Two men, each in their late twenties, were with him as they conversed in hushed whispers. They all shot up when we came into view, sighs of relief coming from them when they realized it was us.

"Miss Baker! Mr. Brennan! It's so good to see you both alive!" Kane stated as he came over to us, giving us both a hearty hand shake. As relieved as I was to see another human, a nagging voice in the back of my mind whispered that something wasn't right. The grin on Kane's face was too joyful and my suspicion of him only grew.

"It's good to see others alive as well." I bit out, forcing myself to push all of the bad feelings for Kane away; after all, it wasn't his fault we were stranded out here.

He motioned the two men forward, "This is who I was talking about. Our chances of survival just quadrupled with these two around. Miss Baker, Mr. Brennan, this is Kurt Synova." He introduced the taller of the two. The man was lanky and pale as hell but he seemed strangely comfortable with his surroundings, despite the sweat dripping into his startling blue eyes. In all honesty, he looked like he belonged in the city on Broadway or something, not out here. "And this is Blaine Synova." Kane continued, pointing to the other man.

He was a complete opposite from his brother, midnight dark hair and calm hazel eyes. Blaine was slightly shorter than Kurt, but his tan was a lot darker and his muscles bigger. The only similarity I could see between them was the ease they took everything in, how both looked to have done something like this before. It only furthered my suspicion of Kane but I ignored it. They were probably extra help for the Amazon trek.

"You do realize exactly where we are right now, don't you?" Billy asked, the bite in his tone evident. He didn't bother to hide his disdain for the rich man, but it didn't faze Kane either way.

"Yes of course. We're at Isla Sorna. Granted the arrival wasn't quite according to plan, but everything is working out." Kane clapped his hands, rubbing them together as hit words hit me like a semi-truck.

I spoke slowly, letting all of the venom in my body seep into my words, "What the fuck do you mean according to plan?" Kane's grin slipped a little as I advanced on him, shaking with fury as the true meaning of what he said sunk in. "This was supposed to be a trip to the Amazon."

Kane waved me off like I was a pesky fly and it only served to infuriate me more, "Yes, that was public plan. The government wouldn't allow a scheduled trip to Sorna and from the reaction I got from Kirby's, I knew telling you both outright wouldn't get me anywhere."

The tremors that shook me worsened at his words, "You bastard." I growled, balling my hands into fists.

"You lied to us to get us here? You're a sick son of a bitch." Billy snapped, the anger apparent on his face.

Kane's grin wasn't completely gone, "Well we're here now, so it doesn't matter." I couldn't believe the gall of this man! He was willing to do whatever it took to get his way and he didn't even care that innocent lives had been lost!

I pinched the bridge of my nose, attempting to restore some semblance of control to my temper. It was proving difficult to rein in the more Kane talked. "The argument you had with Captain Scott, he was refusing to turn the ship this way wasn't he?"

Kane scowled at the memory, "Yes, the insolent man had the nerve to go against my orders even though it was _my_ money that was paying for the whole trip."

"How did you talk him into it?" Billy asked, the dangerous growl still very present in his voice.

"He didn't." another voice cut into the conversation. We all turned; surprised to see none other than Captain Scott walk out of the brush. Dirty, sweaty and scratched up, but alive. "He paid off the first mate to change the destination route after I refused to do it myself."

Scott's jaw was clenched tight as he reached us and I noticed a rather nasty cut on his left bicep. Kane was still unfazed at all of our growing dislike of him. "Like I said, I _own_ you boy, and nobody tells me no."

Billy growled and lunged forward, his fist raised to strike the man. I jumped between them at the last second, putting my right hand on Billy's still bare chest, "Don't Billy. You can't hit him." I ordered, attempting to calm him down enough to back off.

He looked down at me, his fist still clenched tight by slowly lowering. "Why not?" he asked in a dark tone.

I could practically hear Kane smirking behind me and it just pissed me off even more. "Because I'm gonna hit him." I snapped, whirling around and landing a punch to the left side of Kane's face.

The man's head snapped back as he stumbled from the blow, tripping over his own feet and hitting the ground with a _thud_. Kurt and Blaine rushed to help the billionaire up as I shook my right hand. _Shit_ that hurt! I glared at Kane as I rubbed my split knuckles, cursing his idiocy.

Billy gently pulled me into his chest, taking my hand and messaging the busted skin. "Now why did you get to hit him and I didn't?" he asked, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. I didn't miss the smirk Scott had sent Kane after the punch either as he came to join us.

I shrugged, hissing slightly as the pain flared up, "I wanted to hit him first. Plus, his boys can't retaliate, we didn't need this turning into a brawl." I answered, wishing that I had thrown Kane overboard when Scott and I had mentioned it.

Kane finally righted himself, brushing off his still filthy clothes as he tenderly rubbed his cheek where a lovely red mark was quickly darkening. It would be a swollen bruise by the end of the day and I couldn't help the swell of satisfaction that coursed through me. It was no where near what the bastard deserved but it would have to do for now.

Ignoring the rich man and his cronies, I turned to the two men in front of me, thankful that they were both there and I wasn't stuck with Kane on my own. "We need to find a safe place for the night, then we'll settle on a plan in the morning." I stated, looking around for any suitable trees to scale up.

It took me a moment to realize Billy was still messaging my hand and with burning cheeks I slowly tugged it away, stepping away from him as I looked around. "Where have you been sleeping Scott?" I asked, refusing to even look in the direction of the three other men.

"Stuck to the trees mostly after the first night, I had a rather interesting run in with a dinosaur." By the look on his face I could tell he still wasn't quite used to the idea and almost expected us to not believe him, I doubted he even believed himself yet.

"Trees are the safest place, thankfully raptors can't climb." I gave a mock laugh, the humor none existent. I stepped closer to the two, lowering my voice to keep the others from hearing. "As much as I hate the bastard and would love for something to pick him off, we can't just leave him here."

Scott and Billy had identical grimaces on their faces as they realized that the three other men would have to come with us, whether we liked it or not. I turned to the others, not bothering to hide my dislike for any of them. Kurt and Blaine were guilty by association, they were too willing to rush to Kane's aid, and there was no surprise on their faces when Scott told of Kane's treachery.

"Alright, it's your bloody fault we're stuck in this godforsaken place so here's the deal. You'll do what I say when I say without a word against it, otherwise I'm leaving your ass to fend for yourself. Got it?" I snapped, resting my hand on the knife hilt and really wishing I had a gun.

I didn't wait for a response, I turned away from them and back to the two people I could stand, motioning for them to follow me. "We'll get up high and decide what to do from there. Standing around on the ground making all of this noise isn't a great idea." I stated, moving off toward taller and thicker trees. With any luck we might find a suitable one before the sun set and I could get high enough to look for any other signs of survivors.

There was the chance that more had survived, but it was also possible we were all that was left. I hoped not, for the sake of all those that had been on board. We did find twin trees that stood at least seventy feet tall and we quickly started scaling up it, leaving Kane and the two brothers to figure out their own way up.

Eventually they made it up the second tree as we all tried to figure out some sort of arrangement to fit the three of us without having a risk of anyone falling to their death.

I scaled up as far as I could, my eyes searching over the tree tops for any sign of human life. The dying sun gave the island a peaceful and almost haven-like look. If the inhabitants of the island were of the friendlier sort, this place could be a paradise.

With a sigh, I dropped down from my perch, the last light fading and hiding everything from sight. I hadn't been able to spot anything remotely promising, I couldn't even see the compound we had come across the first time here.

I rubbed my eyes as a yawn tore through me, the exhaustion hitting me full force. The space was so limited I had to resign myself to sleeping against Billy-not that I was really complaining. As I leaned back against him, he wrapped his arms securely around me and let out a breath, closing his eyes as he tried to get some rest.

Before I shut my own eyes I looked around, making out the forms of Scott on a thick branch next to us, Kurt and Blaine barely squeezed into a space in the other tree and Kane shifting around in an attempt to get comfortable. I could have laughed if I had the energy, this was no 5-star hotel, hell it wasn't even a Motel 6; there was no getting comfortable. It was a simple matter of getting so exhausted you didn't care anymore.

It was impossible to stay awake any longer, so I let my head fall back against Billy's chest, enjoying his warmth in the now cool night.

Warmth breath blowing over my face woke me up the next morning. It was still early, extremely early, I noted, taking in the still comfortable air and barely lighting up world. Glancing around I realized I was the only one awake, even Billy was still out. I frowned, wondering whose breath I was feeling. Turning away from Scott, I nearly jumped out of my skin as the huge grey snout came closer. Warm air blew over me as the animal breathed, getting closer and closer until I could almost touch it.

I froze, wishing I knew something about these creatures. The dinosaur opened its huge mouth and I let out a sigh of relief at the distinct plant-chewing teeth. I looked down, raising my eyebrows at the dinosaur's extremely long neck and huge body as it continued to munch away at the leaves around us.

"Billy." I whispered, nudging him awake as I continued to watch the animal. It really was fascinating to see a live dinosaur when it wasn't trying to eat us.

I heard him suck in a breath before letting it out in the same second, his tensed body relaxing immediately as he realized what it was. "Brachiosaurus." He stated quietly, tightening his grip around my waist as I leaned back into him.

I let a small smile grace my lips at the sight, the herbivore enjoying an early breakfast as the sun broke over the horizon, the rays lighting up the animal's silhouette. It was peaceful and beautiful, one of the rare moments when I could admire and partially understand all that InGen had done.

I hoped it was a sign that today would turn out alright.

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**Kurt and Blaine are dedicated to the wonderful TaylarelloLove, who's got a strange obsession with different characters of the same name. ;)**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~ **


	20. The Compound Part 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own Jurassic Park, I do own all of the things not recognizable from said movies/books**

**Yay another quick and long chapter (longest chap yet!) ! I've finally hit my groove again! I'm hoping to have this finished by the time I hit 1 year since starting it :)**

**This chapter is for my reviewers: The lovely ****TaylarelloLove**, (now known as YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans), DarkFireAngel00, shippolove844, Random Fan and ninjacat5. Thank you so much, you make going on this adventure with Lexi and Billy so much better!  


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I looked away from the Brachiosaurus when I felt another warm blast of air coming from the other side. It was difficult to stifle my laughter when I took in the sight. Scott was still passed out against the tree-how was beyond me-and another of the long-necked dinosaurs was snacking on the very branch the Captain was on.

The creature's muzzle came close to Scott, whose leg kicked out at the slight contact even though the man was still unconscious. The animal pulled back, letting out an indignant grunt that was louder than any ship horn. Scott nearly fell off the branch as he shot up and attempted to jump back when he noticed how close the thing was to him.

The other three men jolted awake as well, letting out startled yells as they noticed they were surrounded. Billy and I couldn't help but laugh at the four of them and their expressions. A mix of shock, surprise and the last grips of sleep made an interesting combination.

"Very funny Lexi." Scott grumbled as he pulled his legs to his chest and further from the Brachiosaur's mouth which had once again returned to feasting on the tree.

"I thought it was." I returned cheekily, still openly grinning at him.

"Shoo! Get! Get!" Kane started shouting, throwing his arms around while attempting to startle the animals off.

"Kane, shut up, they're harmless." I snapped, wishing I had a rock I could throw at him. The man had irked me before I had ever met him face-to-face and he only annoyed me even more now that I had had to deal with him.

He sneered before turning back to his two cronies who had remained relatively quiet so far. "Alright let's go." He ordered, standing up and attempting to figure out the way down.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Billy stated, remaining exactly where he was, shifting his arms only slightly over my stomach.

"And why's that? They're harmless according to you two, so it should be a safe time to climb down." Blaine butted in, slinging a pack I had never noticed him carrying over his shoulder.

"If you three had any clue of how things work, we wouldn't have to explain this to you. They're herbivores. And what eats herbivores?" I asked slowly, wishing we could have stumbled across anyone else; at least Billy and Scott where there to keep my sanity in check. Billy shifted his arms again and absentmindedly rubbed circles over my belly with his thumb. Well, at least Scott was here to keep my sanity in check.

"Carnivores." Kurt answered, keeping his eyes on the vegetarian dinosaurs as if expecting them to sprout sharp teeth any second.

"So where would the logical place for any hungry carnivore be?" Billy asked slowly, annoyance so thick in his tone one would have to be deaf to not hear it.

The three men simply stared at us, eyeing the large dinosaurs that were slowly moving off to other tree tops. "But they're so bloody huge." Kurt stated-obviously-as he attempted to lean forward enough to see the rest of the animal.

I shrugged, the movement awkward in my lounging position against Billy, "Elephants are bigger than lions. But go ahead, climb down the damn tree, hang out with the herbivores. I'm sure a pack of raptors or a tyrannosaur would prefer to go for the big ones than the easy meal."

"Actually Tyrannosaur's are more scavengers than hunters." Billy started quietly, ending with a grunt as I elbowed his gut.

"Regardless, do whatever the hell you want. But you're not staying here with us unless you follow _my_ orders." I growled, fingering the hilt of my knife. Not that I was cold-hearted enough to kill another person-especially on this island where enough were dying already-but the action was intimidating to others, and it worked wonderfully for getting my point across.

Kane's jaw clenched and I could tell how much he wanted to be in control-he was so used to it with all of his money-but he was also smart in some aspects. He had brought Billy and I for a reason; staying with us gave him the best chance of survival. "We stay." He ordered his two cronies and I couldn't help but growl under my breath. If this was going to work _everyone_ had to be following my orders, otherwise things would get messy very quickly.

We stayed up in the trees for a few more hours, waiting until the Brachiosaur's were long gone before slowly making our way down to the ground.

I motioned for the others to stay put ten feet from the forest floor, going the rest of the way as silently as possible. I dropped to a crouch as soon as my feet hit the dirt, the knife at the ready in my hand as I froze, listening and searching for any signs of life.

When I couldn't see anything, I closed my eyes, focusing solely on what I was hearing. I sorted through the different noises-bugs, the calls of the far off herbivores, Kane's breathing-I was going to have to talk to him about that-and the rustling of a nearby bush.

I snapped my eyes open, focusing on the offending vegetation. Shifting, I twisted my body to face the bush, keeping my back to the tree in case it was a trap. I was met with a tiny bird cocking its head at me, letting out a chirp before taking off. I watched it go, wondering why I hadn't seen any other birds around here besides that one.

Waiting for a few more moments, I gave the all clear when I deemed the area as safe as it was going to get. Kurt and Blaine were the first to drop down, followed immediately by Scott and Billy. Kane was slower and I rolled my eyes, he was going to slow us way down. Traveling in a group this big already was a risk with the chance of attracting a predator's attention growing with each new member.

While the brothers helped Kane out of the tree, I motioned Billy and Scott over to me. We had two choices, neither of which promised rescue and were both risky and I couldn't decide between them.

"We need to find a way to signal for help," I started, staying quiet so as to not let Kane overhear. "We've got three choices, and none of them are very promising." I grimaced, I really hated not having a full-proof plan set, "We can go back to the shore and try to start a fire. Did either of you see anything that could have been useful? Any chances the ship's radio survived?"

Billy shook his head as Scott answered, "The radio went down with the ship. I'd tried to get a mayday out when it caught fire but I have no idea if it went out or if anyone heard it."

"Then it would have to be a signal fire if the beach will do us any good. But the closer we are to the water, the bigger the predators get." I said the last part to Scott, clueing him in to what Billy and I knew from experience. "Our other choice is to try and find the compound, see if we can't get a radio or phone to work there." I knew it was improbably the compound would offer anything. The phone hadn't worked the last time we were here, but we hadn't seen the entire building, and the survivors from the first Sorna incident had to have signaled out somehow.

"And the third choice?" Billy asked, remembering the dead phone just as clearly as I did.

"We stay here and die." I stated bluntly, knowing that either way, we probably wouldn't make it off this island alive…again.

"I say we try for the compound." Scott voted, "A signal fire is too chancy. We could burn ourselves us, drive all of the dinosaurs onto the beach with us and kill any other survivors without having anyone even see it. And I sure as hell am not sitting here waiting to be an easy meal."

I nodded, he made sense, even if the compound was just as dangerous, especially since I had no idea where it was and it had proven useless before. "The only problem is we've been to the compound before, on our first trip here." Surprise flashed over Scott's face and I belatedly realized none of us had told him this was our second time on Sorna. "And the phone was dead, along with everything else."

"There's another compound." Kane spoke up and I silently cursed myself for not watching where he was. Although he may-for once-prove himself useful if he knew where the damn thing was. "It's where we're going to meet our pick-up."

I stared at him for a long moment, letting the words sink in, "Meet our pick-up?" I asked slowly, feeling my fists clench tightly.

Billy's hand threaded through mine, giving it a squeeze in a silent effort to help keep my temper in check. I bit the inside of my cheek to resist punching the man again and swelling the other half of his face.

"Of course, I didn't arrange for us to come here without having a pick-up planned." Kane stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You planned for us to crash?" Scott growled, Kane noticed the tightening in the other man's fist and quickly realized he was making enemies very fast.

"Nonsense, but my cargo wouldn't exactly fit on that little ship of yours, so I arranged for larger transport to come at my call."

"Cargo. You wanted to take these animals off the island?" I asked in disbelief. Did no one watch the news anymore? Did he not see what happened in San Diego?

"I have much better facilities than InGen had arranged." Kane started, a smug smirk dancing across his face, even if it was lopsided thanks to the purple swollen mess that was his left cheek.

"Enough. I don't want to hear about your damn ideas. Where is the second compound?" I cut in, pulling my hand free from Billy's to rub my temples.

Kane shrugged, the concern about being stuck here noticeably absent from his expression. "Couldn't tell you. We were supposed to land a few miles further around the island." He glared accusatorily at Scott, as if it was somehow the Captain's fault the ship had wrecked where it did.

I groaned, using both hands to message my head. One nightmare after the other. "Are you sure there is power to this compound?" I asked, praying I would hear something other than what I did.

"No idea, the call was going to be made from the ship, the compound was just open enough for the helicopters to come in." Kane sneered and I really wanted to hit him.

So we had absolutely no help coming until we sent out a call counting on the very high probability Scott's mayday hadn't been heard. "We need to find that compound, it's the best chance we have." I decided, praying there was a working radio and that we made it there in one piece.

"So which way do we go?" Kurt asked, breaking the silence the brothers had taken. At least they seemed much more willing to take orders from me than Kane, for which I was thankful.

I thought about it for a moment before the taste of blood shocked me, quickly I unclenched my teeth, not even realizing I had been biting my bottom lip. Mentally shaking my head, I reorganized my thoughts to get everything back on track, only a few days and the island was destroying my sanity. Who knew how much longer we'd be here.

I looked around us, turning towards the center of the island, it was our best bet. "First we eat, then we'll head out that way." I stated, praying I was right.

Billy opened up the backpack and tossed all of us a can of who-knows what. I couldn't help but scrunch up my nose when I opened the lid. Beans, I hated beans. Grimacing, I dug in, knowing it was better than to eat something I didn't like than go without. We buried the cans as deep as we could under a large bush, hoping to keep the smell away from predators that could then track us.

By the time we got started, it was midday and the heat was once again stifling. The shade wasn't much of a reprieve because of the bugs, and in the sun's rays I could feel my skin burning. I didn't remember it being this hot last time, but that was a different time of year too.

I dimly realized I had no idea what day it was, I'd lost track of how many had passed since the wreck, but I figured we'd been hear longer than the first trip. An arm came around my shoulders and I gave a small smile to Billy, the heat from his skin was miserable, but the comfort was appreciated. Scott was right behind, purposely ignoring Kane beside him as the two brothers brought up the rear.

As I looked back at them I realized that they were too alike to me, they had to be in the same business of protecting tourists. I narrowed my eyes at them, Kane hadn't lied to them, that had been obvious in their unsurprised reactions to learning where we were.

The guilt hit me as I looked again at Billy. The same thing had been done to him and Dr. Grant. "I'm sorry." I told him, as all of the similarities came to me, including the fact that both Alan and I had decked the men responsible.

"What are you talking about?" Billy asked, frowning at me as he tried to figure out what I was apologizing for.

I motioned about and behind us, "For all of this. Again. Kirby and I did the same thing to you and Alan that Kane's done to us. And I'm sorry. For not telling you, for lying to you."

The man sighed, tugging me closer to him with his arm still securely wrapped around my shoulders. "Don't. Yeah Alan and I should have been told the truth but that wasn't your doing. You had no way of knowing Mr. Kirby tricked us. Besides, it's in the past, no amount of guilt-tripping yourself is going to change anything. We move forward, we focus on what's important. Which in this case is surviving long enough to avoid Kane's calls for dinner." He grinned, lightening the mood.

The guilt was still there, but I could help but laugh lightly, "You avoided the 'thank you dinner' too?"

"To the point of unplugging my phone." He responded dryly, causing me to laugh again.

"With our luck, Kane will just come to the door."

Billy snorted, a cheeky grin flashing across his face as he responded, "Then we use the backdoor."

I chuckled as we pushed onward, the humor sapped from me the second I heard it. I froze, motioning for everyone to stay silent as I tried to focus on what I was hearing. It was a crunching, so much like bone that it made me wince, and a low growl like a huge predator feasting.

I scanned the area, not seeing anything unusual, so I took a few cautious steps forward toward a break in the tree line. It was a game trail, and I prayed whatever I was hearing was either herbivore or a full carnivore with enough of a feast left to not worry about us.

Frowning, I took in the empty game trail, noting only a huge, almost completely stripped skeleton of a Triceratops that looked at least a couple days old. A skeleton that _moved._

Ok so the thing wasn't getting up and moving around, but it was shifting, bones moving as if being pushed by something. Perhaps the Compys had moved in and were finishing it off.

But how would Compys move it so much, how could they make that loud of a noise? Then I noticed the out of place shadow on the ground on the other side of the skeleton. The miserably hot day felt like it dropped below freezing as I finally noticed the huge animal picking the scraps off of another's kill.

"Billy, what the _fuck_ is that?" I whispered as quietly as I could, not even sure he had been able to hear me.

At least 10 feet tall and 25 feet long, it looked like a T-rex, but its tail was too long, and its front arms way to short to be one. There were two horns over its eyes and the damn thing was _camouflaged_ so well it was still difficult to make out.

"Carnotaurus." Billy answered almost silently from right beside me, his lips by my ear so as to make as little noise as humanely possible. "Ambush predator, hence the camouflage. Not a very fast runner by dinosaur standards with suspected binocular vision."

"Suspected?" I asked, keeping as still as I could while watching the animal to make sure he didn't notice us.

"Never had absolute proof."

"We need to get off the game trail and into the trees." I stated, "What are the possibilities there are more than one?"

"High." I looked at him to make sure he wasn't lying-not that I really believed he would right now- but I _really_ didn't want to believe him.

I nodded, scanning the opposite tree line for any abnormalities. I studied one spot that didn't seem just right when a slight flash of red right next to it caught my attention. These animals blended better than any chameleon I had ever seen and they had to weigh at least a ton!

"Probability of more than two?" I whispered, knowing Billy hadn't moved an inch.

"Not a clue."

"Lovely." I mumbled, studying the trees for another.

I couldn't see anything else that could be a Carnotaurus so hopefully it was just the two. "We have to make a break for those trees." I stated, nodding towards where they looked the thickest. Billy nodded, slowly turning to relay the message to the others.

"Are you crazy?" Blaine asked, much too loudly for the current situation. The Carnotaurus at the skeleton stood up, his skin flashing a brilliant red as he stared at us.

"Now!" There was no point in hanging around any longer or bothering to keep quiet, so I took off, hearing the others following right behind.

The bull-like dinosaur roared, starting after us as we ran for the trees. The still hidden predator slowly stepped towards our direction, waiting for the opportune moment to pounce.

The animals may be slow by dinosaur standards, but they were more than fast enough to catch us. "Come on!" I urged, swerving to go further around the still hidden Carnotaurus. The one behind quickly gaining ground and I really hoped the trees would be thick enough to lose it.

Luckily we made it to the trees in the nick of time, the camouflaged dinosaur flashing red as he joined the chase. We couldn't slow though, the animals were more agile than I had thought and maneuvered through the trees after us.

It slowed them down, but not enough to lose them as easily as I had hoped. I briefly wondered if the Spinosaurus lived on this side of the island, almost wishing he did simply for the distraction he was cause our pursuers.

It was uphill the entire time and we were panting by the time our cramping muscles forced us to slow down. At least we could no longer see or hear the two Carnotaurus, hopefully they were stuck somewhere in the thick trees.

There was a ledge where it looked like the ground finally started descending again and I cautiously made my way towards it, hoping there was sign of the compound.

I looked down and grimaced, it wasn't going to be easy to navigate. It was extremely steep and the loose dirt wouldn't provide any stability. We had to go down though, otherwise we were stuck going back towards the Carnotaurs. Glancing around, I tried to see if there was any other place we could go down-there wasn't.

I let out a huge sigh of relief when I finally looked away from the ground and out towards the valley that opened up before us. In the distance I could see the sun reflecting off of something sticking out of the trees. The metal roof of a compound.

The going would be slow, but at least we had a destination in sight, and it looked to be only a few miles away. I stepped on the very edge of the drop off, determined to find some way where we could all make it to the bottom in relative safety.

A huge roar that was quickly followed by another blasted out from the trees not too far behind us and we all jerked around. I guess we hadn't lost the Carnotaurs as well as I'd thought.

"Jump!" I shouted, tugging Scott off of the ground from where he had sat.

"I'm not going to jump, are you crazy?" Blaine shouted, looking from the slope to the trees and back to the slope.

I could feel the thundering footsteps again and hear the snapping of branches as the two dinosaurs forced their way through the trees towards us. "We don't have any other choice!" I snapped, glancing at Billy before taking a deep breath. With a few running steps, I jumped.

And made the resolution to get a desk job if I made it out of here.

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**Please leave a review and tell me what you think! There is a new poll up regarding Kane's future! (Because so many of you want to see something eat him ;))  
**

**~Black Wolf-Dog  
**


	21. The Compound Part 2

**Disclaimer: Ya'll know the drill, I don't own a damn thing *pouts***

**Ok, I'm so loving this roll I'm on right now! And I love all of you reviewers more than words can express! Your kind words just make my day! This chapter is for the awesomeness that is: YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, bayumlikedayum, Midnight Cheesecake O.o, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, Damico, shippolove844, DarkFireAngel00, ninjacat5, and mysterygirl123! You guys rock! Enjoy chapter 21!**

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Item number 87 of things to never to do again: jump off a bloody cliff.

I hit the dirt hard, probably cracking a rib or two in the process and then proceeded to roll the rest of the way down. It wasn't the smooth, almost-controlled roll of kids in their grandma's yard; it was more of a painful tumble the whole way down.

It felt like I rolled forever and by the time I hit the bottom I was dizzy as hell. Groaning, I rolled onto my back, grabbing my left bicep where a rather sharp rock had cut into it on the way down.

Glancing up the slope, I swore, rolling as fast as I could to get out of the way of the oncoming body. It was Blaine and he finally stopped with a low moan right where I had been seconds before.

Everyone had made it down-a little worse for wear-but alive nonetheless. I looked back to the top of the cliff; the two Carnotaurus were at the edge, their massive weight sending rock and dirt cascading down towards us. They roared, the sound sending chills down my spine as their eyes still fixated on the six of us.

One took another step forward, clawed toes reaching over the edge. "Move!" I shouted, seeing the land start to give way under the heavy creature. We scrambled up and I mentally cursed as I felt a jab of pain shoot up from my left ankle.

The trees down here where thinner and more spread out, they were useless for climbing and for hindering giant predators, so our only choice was to try and make it to the compound. I glanced behind us in time to see the land give way beneath one of the beasts. The other backed off, giving out another roar before turning and disappearing.

The second crashed to the ground on his back, his tail and back legs flailing as he tried to right himself. I turned back around, picking up my pace to catch up to the rest of the group. It didn't take long before I could feel the ground shake from our pursuer.

I caught sight of silver ahead of us through the trees and I would have let out a sigh of relief had I not been panting from the run. We finally reached the large metal doors that led into the building and we slammed into them to try and force them open.

"It's locked!" Kurt shouted after our attempts proved useless. I turned and pressed my back into the metal door as the Carnotaurus headed towards us, saliva dripping from his jaws.

My heart clenched as the fear seized me, there was no hope. This thing was going to kill all of us and no amount of fighting back or praying was going to save us. I was going to do both though, no way in hell was I going down without a fight. My hand wrapped around the knife-not that it would really do any good- but I would be damned if I just sat there and let myself be killed.

I can honestly say, I have never been so happy to hear a bigger predator's roar in my entire life. The sight of the giant Spinosaurus had me letting out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

I had seen this animal take down the Tyrannosaur with little trouble, this smaller cousin of the rex didn't have a chance. The animal seemed to realize this fact, as he backed into the trees, his skin changing from the brilliant red to the muted greens of the land around him to try and hide.

The Spinosaurus had seem him enough and quickly charged after him. I couldn't help but stand transfixed as the sailed predator latched onto the Carnotaur's tail with his massive jaws, forcibly dragging him back into the open. The chameleon dinosaur roared in pain and anger, his large feet dug into the ground as he was drug.

Twisting, the Carnotaurus attempted to get a hold of the Spinosaurus, but the super-predator simply let go of the tail, dodging out of the way of the oncoming jaws and latching onto the no-longer camouflaged animal's neck. A twist and a snap and the fight was over, our pursuer crashing to the ground in a mass of flesh and prehistoric muscle.

My heart was pounding away so loudly in my ears I half expected the Spinosaurus to hear it. But whether he realized we were there or not, he ignored us, choosing instead to gorge himself on his kill.

I felt a hand on my arm, tugging me away from the scene as the animal let out a victorious roar. I looked towards the owner of the hand, seeing Billy silently telling me to get a move on. Everyone else had gone passed the door and towards the other side of the building where hopefully there would be an open door.

I snapped out of whatever trance the fight had put on me and followed him, pausing only a moment later. "Billy." I whispered, looking back to the still feasting Spinosaurus that was no longer alone.

I nodded towards the two smaller animals that had joined the giant predator. I had expected the larger creature to snap out at the two, to chase them away or kill them too. I hadn't expected the animal to take half a step back from the kill and _nuzzle_ the little things. Startled, I realized that the two were infants, old enough to leave the nest but too young to do much of their own hunting.

The two were slightly bigger than a raptor, their faces not quite as long as a crocodile. There was slight ridges on their backs where the sails were coming in. It was fascinating really, to see how different the young ones looked from their parents; and how the adults _cared_ for their babies.

"Come on Lexi." Billy whispered in my ear, his arm wrapping around to my other side as he pulled me along.

Luckily we did find an open door, and quickly shut and locked it as soon as we all made it through. I wondered idly if that would come back to bite us all in the ass later. Sure it would keep the young Spinosaurs from coming in right now, but there was no telling what was already in here.

It looked in slightly better condition than the other compound had been in. The plants hadn't quite taken over the reception area just yet and most of the windows were still intact. As I looked around I realized that this building hadn't been finished when InGen abandoned the island. There was half a painting of a T-rex behind the desk with Jurassic stenciled above it. Paint cans still lay scattered around the artwork, some spilled over and dried to the floor.

I moved behind the counter, sighing as I noticed the wiring was all there, but no electronics had been installed in here yet. No computers, no phones and no radios. We moved deeper into the building and I kept my head on a swivel, looking around every which way. I didn't want a repeat of the raptor incident from last time. Not that they had a reason to track us this time, I glanced over at Billy as the thought came to mind.

He remembered the last time just as well as I did, and kept his eyes moving as he checked for any potentially man-eating animals that could be hiding out in here.

The sound of smashing glass had all of us freeze as we tried to figure out what the hell that was and where it came from. I wondered if it was something coming through one of the windows from outside, but the crash was too loud and too close to be an outside window.

I pulled the knife from its sheath, gripping it tight in my hand as I crept around a corner, silently motioning for the others to slowly follow me. There was a noise that I couldn't make out as it echoed throughout the building, reverberating off of the walls and making the sound impossible to place.

We continued at a snails pace down the hallway, coming upon an open doorway. I looked in, it was just an office, or what was supposed to be an office. It hadn't even been completely painted and I could spot a paint brush sitting on the top of an open can. The room was otherwise empty, no source of communication to the outside world and no source of the breaking glass.

I continued on, reaching the end of the hallway after checking out at least six incomplete and empty rooms. Poking my head around the corner, I slightly raised my knife hand, waiting to strike out at whatever could pounce on me from the other side.

There were vending machines, at least four and one of them had a shattered glass door. Well, at least we found the source of the noise, now it was just a matter of figuring out who or what had done it.

Just out of sight I could hear a low muttering and the crinkling of whatever had been in the vending machine. Then the footsteps started. I held my breath as whatever had the quick pace head towards the vending machines from the other entrance to the room.

I dropped my hand, and let out a relieved sigh as I heard the angry British accent of none other than Roland Tempo. "Do you want every bloody dinosaur to know where we are?" he growled.

I turned to look behind me, seeing the relaxed and relieved expressions crossing over everyone's faces. Purposely, I tapped the knife's blade against the wall before stashing it back into its sheath, slowly stepping into the doorway. "Roland." I nodded towards the man, almost crying out in relief as I recognized the rifle he had in his hands.

He lowered it as he realized we weren't dinosaurs coming to eat him and nodded to each of us in turn. "Good to know we're not the only ones left alive." He stated, shaking hands with Billy and the captain. I looked down towards the three men than had broken into the vending machine. They were busy stashing away some of the food into a backpack; a second bag lying full just a few feet from them.

I stepped next to Roland, looking over my gun in his hands. It looked to be in near perfect condition; filthy, but usable. "Find anymore of those?" I asked, nodding towards the powerful rifle.

He shook his head, "None that could be save." I sighed but let him keep the rifle, he was probably a better shot than I was anyway. Giving the gun one last look, I nodded towards the three men still stuffing the bag.

"Who are they?" I asked quietly, having my suspicions of why they were on the ship in the first place.

"Brian, Jack and Carter. Didn't care to ask for their last names." I couldn't help but crack a grin at that.

"Roland?" I said after a moment. The rest of the room was a buzz of quiet conversations between everyone else and I had a feeling this would be the only chance I got to ask this question without everyone hearing. "Did you know we'd land here?"

He knew I wasn't talking about the compound, and I saw his face darken drastically as he took in the meaning of my words, "If I had I wouldn't have gotten on that bloody boat."

I nodded, relieved he hadn't willingly signed up for round 2 on this island. "This way, there are others." He spoke up, catching the attention of everyone else in the room. Glaring at the three men than had cleaned out the vending machine, he turned and headed back the way he had come, leaving us to follow or not.

Billy came to stand next to me, slipping an arm around my waist and resting his hand on my hip. Normally this would bug the crap out of me, ordinarily I would shrug the man's hand off with a threat of losing said appendage. Usually I hated being touched, especially in ways like this.

I could have blamed the island, said it was just the stress getting to me, that I wasn't myself. But the only thing the stress did was prevent me from lying to myself. It didn't matter where we were, there was just something about Billy that prevented me from pushing him away as I had done all of the other guys that had tried to come into my life. This man had snuck himself into my life and now there was no way he could leave it without leaving behind the evidence of him being there.

I shook my head, shoving the thoughts out of my mind; this wasn't the place to try and figure out what made this man so different, I could figure that all out later. In the meantime, I had to wonder when we had started walking. Damn him and his ability to distract me even in potentially dangerous situations.

We made it down several bland looking hallways before Roland stopped at a closed door, knocking twice and waiting only a few moments before the sound of a lock being undone was heard and the door swung open.

It was probably supposed to be the cafeteria, judging from the many tables thrown about. Some still in one piece while others had been crushed by who-knows what. There were seven others sitting around the room, including the one that had answered the door. They were all men, I noticed, realizing that my observation of no other women or children on the ship had been accurate. All of the passengers had been brought by Kane to help carryout his hair-brained schemes.

It put our numbers up to seventeen and as I looked at all of the men's faces, I knew not everyone would make it off. There were too many of us, it would be impossible to go anywhere unnoticed.

"How much of the compound have you explored?" Scott asked once the door had been shut up tight behind us.

"From the door we came in to here." Roland responded, pointing towards a corner of the room where a blanket had been thrown over a lump. A very human shaped lump. "Fanned dinosaur spit something and got him in the eyes. We hid out in here until the creature when away. He was paralyzed and died that night."

"Dilophosaurus." Billy stated immediately, tugging me closer –if that was possible-to his side.

Roland looked like he really couldn't care less about what the damn thing was called, just that it had killed someone and could possible be lurking about somewhere nearby.

"Alright, we need to find someway to establish radio contact, Kane said he's got people waiting for his signal to come and get us." I stated, letting my voice carry over the others but directing it to Roland. It was easy to tell that he had become the leader of this group and I briefly wondered how well it would work with both of us in command. We'd both been to this island before, and neither of us were the 'following orders' type of people.

Scott looked around the room before heading over to the corner by the body, ripping something off of the wall before returning to us. I looked down at the paper in his hand as he held it so all of us could see.

It was an emergency escape route, showing where all of the exits were and safety rooms should the building catch on fire or –heaven forbid-it be invaded by dinosaurs. I could have kissed the captain had Billy not still had such a tight hold on me. And once again I was slightly distracted by the fact that I usually would have gotten extremely sick of it by now, but instead, I enjoyed the feeling.

I mentally shook my head-again, I really needed to put some space between myself and that man- and looked over the chart. Thankfully, some of the lights were working and made it so we could actually see the paper, and that gave me some hope we could find a working radio or phone.

"There." Roland, stated, pointing to a small spot on the map that read out 'Control Room'. It was definitely promising, and if that failed to produce anything, we could try the Communications center set a little off of the map.

I knew that would be the best place to start, but it was separated from the main building, which meant going outside to get to it. It would be too risky as a first resort, so we would try the control room first, and pray no one would have to go outside to try and get to the communications center.

"So who's going?" Scott asked in a quiet voice. No one spoke up for a long moment, it could be a suicide mission if there were dinosaurs in the building. But it would be mass murder if no one went and we sat in here waiting to die.

Billy's hand on my hip tightened to the point of bruising when I finally spoke up. "I'll go."

I never was one to sit still after all.

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**I figured that would be a good place to stop, perhaps you'll come back to see what happens next? Please review and tell me what you think!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**p.s. Don't forget to vote on how you want to see Kane bite the dust!**


	22. Communications Center

**Disclaimer: Don't own!**

**Wow, once again, I have to give out a huge thank you to my wonderful reviewers! Damico, Random Ran, FireheartNinja, ninjacat5, DarkFireAngel00, shippolove844, Midnight Cheesecake O.o, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, bayumlikedayum, and the ever amazing YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans! You guys are so awesome! Here is another chap before I am forced away from the computer for the 4th of July weekend. Enjoy!**

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I could sense Billy was about to argue, so I looked to Roland, knowing that whatever that man decided, no one was going to fight it.

He nodded, passing off the rifle to me, "Kane you're going too, knowing you, you've got those men paid off to not respond to anyone but you." he commanded, giving the rich man a glare, daring him to argue.

He didn't, but he motioned to the brothers still standing guard behind him, "They're coming then."

I really didn't want them to, but they were probably the best options. They at least had a semblance of the training I had, so they couldn't really hurt. "I'm coming." Billy spoke up, his grip on me tight, as if challenging me to fight back.

Well, I was going to. "I don't think so." I snapped, finally pulling myself out of his grasp as I slung the rifle over my shoulder. "Four is too many already, Blaine, you should stay behind. The fewer we have the better."

"She's right." Roland cut in before anyone could argue; his final word law. Snatching the map from Scott, I stepped away from the group, getting under better lighting so I could try and figure out the quickest way to the control room.

"Lexi." I heard Billy come up behind me; the tone in his voice had a hint of anger and worry in it. What he had to be mad about I hadn't a clue.

"Billy." I responded, not looking up from the map in my hand. The easiest way would probably be to go down the hall to the right, up a flight of stairs and down that corridor…

My thoughts cut off as Billy places his hands over mine, forcing me to lower the map. I looked up at him, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Why do you do this?" he asked, keeping his voice quiet to avoid attracting attention. I could hear the strain in it though, he wanted to yell, and I still had no idea why he was so damn upset.

"Do what? Plan? It gives me a better chance of making it back." I stated, attempting to go back to the map. He released his grip to run his fingers through his hair –which was a bit longer since we started this whole 'adventure'- turning slightly and looking at me from the corner of his eyes.

"You know what I mean Lexi." I just stared at him, wondering what was frustrating him so much. He brought his hands down, letting them land on his hips as he turned to face me head on again. "Do this! Volunteer to go on these suicide missions!"

"Someone's got to do it." I answered, "And I've got the most experience out of anybody here." It was simple and easy enough to understand.

"But why does it always have to be _you_?" he ground out as I returned back to the map.

"Because I know what I'm doing. I don't see the problem here." I stated, folding the map and stuffing it into one of my pockets.

"Miss Baker." I turned to face Roland across the room, ignoring Billy's exasperated and extremely frustrated expression. I nodded, hearing the message clear as day. '_Get going.'_

"Don't go." Billy whispered, his voice almost sounded _broken_, I was clueless as to why.

"I have to." I stated, giving him one last look before I turned to head towards the door.

His hand landed on my wrist and before I even realized it, he had spun me around and planted his lips on mine. It wasn't as fierce or passionate as our kiss on the boat, but it was no less desperate or in anyway less enjoyable. The slight stubble that had grown in scratched against my skin. Not that I minded honestly.

"Come back to me." He murmured after pulling away only an inch or so.

"I will." I promised as he kissed my forehead before I pulled completely away, joining the men waiting at the door. "Let's get this show on the road then." I felt a hell of a lot more confident than a few minutes ago, and my resolve to see this through was even stronger.

Roland nodded, unlatching the lock on the door, "Stay quiet and don't get yourselves killed." He ordered, giving us one last nod before opening the door and allowing the three of us out.

I went through first and as soon as Kane and Kurt were through, I heard it shut and lock behind us. The thick metal walls cut off all sound and it was suddenly deathly quiet. Giving the closed door one last look, I motioned for the two men to follow me, noting that Kurt had somehow managed to get his hands on a knife much like the one strapped to my thigh. I really hoped he knew how to use it.

My heart pounded in my ears so loud it should have been echoing down the hall. I paused for a moment, taking a deep, calming breath and forcing myself to slip into a work mentality. This was just a job, an assignment that had to be completed.

We made it to the stairs without incident and slowly began the journey up. I winced at the echo of our footsteps on the aluminum stairs, slowing our pace to try and lessen the noise some how. It helped, but not much.

It seemed to take forever to finally reach the top of the stairs to the second floor. Pulling the map out of my pocket, I looked it over, making sure we were heading in the right direction. Wordlessly, I continued on, expecting the other two to follow, they did.

Every step towards the control room seemed to only take us further away and I had to wonder what the hell the island was doing to my mind. I kept the rifle up, prepared to fire at a second's notice. It was dark up here, the only light streaming through the filthy skylights over the hall.

Thankfully, whoever had planned this building was smart enough to not have a ton of twisting corridors or give it a maze-like feel. It was simple, which I really liked at this point. At the end of the hall I could see one last door, clearly labeled, 'Control Room' on the small panel next to it.

I crept up to it, swiveling the gun to face any open doorway we had to go past. Nothing was ever there except empty rooms and dust. We finally made it door, which was mercifully unlocked.

I could have cried as I caught sight of the computers and phone. Now if they would just work, then we had some hope. Kurt shut the door behind us, casting us in complete darkness. I kept perfectly still as he fumbled around for a light switch, finally finding one and flicking it on.

One of the lights burnt out with a flash, but the other stayed on, giving the room an even eerier feel than before. The lights worked, that meant there was power. Kane pushed the power button for the computer, the light dimmed as it tried to start up before the computer went out with a spark. I crossed my fingers as I approached the phone, resting my hand on it for a long moment. Pulling the phone up, I help it to my ear, holding my breath as I waiting for the dial tone.

There wasn't one.

"Damn it!" I cursed, dropping the phone back onto the cradle. Grabbing the wire, I pulled; trying to find the other end to make sure it was plugged in.

It was, to the same outlet the computer had blown. At the end the wires were frayed, as if something had been chewing on them. The burnt crisp of what was probably a Compy lay by the wires. The damn thing was the reason the phone didn't work in here.

Sighing, I leaned back against the desk, looking towards the two men who stared expectantly at me. "To the Communications Center we go." I stated, pushing myself off of the table and towards the door.

Cracking it open, I was relieved to find the hallway still free and clear. Pulling out the map, I found that there was actually a sky-bridge that connected the two buildings. Following the map, it was just a quick walk to where the bridge was.

Where it was supposed to be anyway. I couldn't help but let out a groan as I saw the state it was in. Something big had crashed through the structure, creating a gaping hole too big to even attempt jumping.

As I walked to the broken edge, I noticed the dried substance splattered on some of the pieces. Crouching down, I realized with a sickening dread that stuff was blood, and the small pieces of debris in the corner was what used to be a hand. A human hand.

Turning away from the sight, I moved back into the building, past the other two men and towards another set of stairs to go down. There was a few second pause before I heard Kane and Kurt follow after me.

Making it down the stairs, we came up to another metal door to the outside. Shoving it open, it squeaked far more than I wanted it to as I used all of my weight to open the thing enough for us to get out.

Keeping the rifle up at the ready, I slowly made my way towards the Communications center, keeping eyes alert as I checked the surrounding area. The Spinosaurus and her young were out of sight, but I could still hear the soft growl of the adult and small squeaks of the babies. Hopefully their presence would be enough to deter anything else from coming close.

We managed to cross the 50 foot space without incident and quickly slipped inside. The room was only partially complete, another mural stenciled out on the far wall with unopened paint cans lined up underneath it. But this room was at least somewhat finished, phones, computers and a large, older radio sat along one wall.

I headed straight for the radio, leaning the rifle against one of the tables on my way "What's the frequency?" I asked, crossing my fingers and turning the knob. The radio crackled to life, spitting out fuzz and static as I moved through the different channels. Kane came up next to me, putting in the right frequency for me. "Breaker, breaker. This is the _Darcy_ is anyone out there?" I held my breath as I waited for an answer.

The seconds seemed to tick by agonizingly slow as we waited for a response of some kind. _"Darcy this is Kane's Base, we read you loud and clear."_ My breath whooshed out of me and a huge smile spread across my face at the answer.

"The ship was wrecked and we've suffered casualties, we need you to send rescue immediately." I responded, relief almost taking my legs out from under me.

_"10-4 Darcy, are we still sending the equipment?" _I snorted, shaking my head to myself and briefly wondering just how much Kane was paying these guys.

"Just rescue." I responded, ignoring the odd look on Kane's face.

I was about to find out what it was about anyway. "Actually there's been a change in plans." His voice was dark and satisfied, as if he'd been waiting for this exact moment.

I whirled around, ready to land another punch to him but froze. Kurt had the muzzle of a gun pointed at my face. One of _my_ guns.

If a dinosaur didn't get to Kane, I was going to kill him myself. _Damn._ I swore mentally as I realized my rifle was still leaning against the table, behind Kurt.

Kane walked over to me, taking the mic from my hand as I glared at him. Kurt motioned for me to move away from the radio, so I did, snarling at Kane, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"I'm not letting this trip go to waste." He told me, a smug smirk etched into his face, "Cancel that last request, the operation is still a go. We've lost our tools so send in supplies. Be here to pick us up in a week."

_A week? _He was purposely stranding us here for another _week_! "Are you insane!" I shouted, not caring what heard us at the moment.

"_10-4 Darcy supplies are on their way." _

Kane kept his eyes locked on mine, his smirk growing, "_Darcy_ out."

"_Kane's Base out."_

Kane flicked the CB radio off, pausing for a second before ripping the mic cord out of the box and smashing the front of the radio with it. I could only stare in disbelief at him, Kurt's gun still in my peripheral, aimed for a head shot should I try anything.

I _really_ wanted to break his neck, but he'd destroyed our only way of contacting the outside world. We may get supplies, but we were stuck on this godforsaken island for another week. If we lived that long.

"You have a death wish?" I growled, my hand unconsciously gripping the knife. As far as I was concerned now, he was another threat to the lives of everyone. And threats had to be neutralized.

Kane noticed where my hand had gone immediately, taking a few steps back as his smug look disappeared. "Are you threatening me?"

Kurt's gun was pressed against my temple by this point, a silent warning that either his loyalty or the money he was getting paid by Kane would protect the rich man at whatever cost. "You really think we can all survive out here for another week? We can't stay at the compound that long!" I snarled, shaking from the pure rage that was coursing through me, far more violent than when I realized it was his fault we were here in the first place.

His growing smirk was pushing me closer to the edge. "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." I froze, not believing my ears. It was something I had expected, but I never thought I'd actually hear from the man himself how little regard he gave for human life. It dawned on me then that that was why there were so many people on the ship in the first place. It was why he had not brought just one, but _three_ of the island's survivors. The realization sank like a stone in my gut, my stomach twisting uncomfortably as I looked into the cold eyes of a man who didn't care who lived or who died, as long as he got what he wanted.

He had counted on us dying.

I really had no idea my hate for a single person could run so deeply and so strongly as it did in this moment. I was physically shaking from the fury that was begging to be released on the bastard's face. Clenching my fists, I _really_ wanted to strangle him. Being eaten or murdered by a knife was too quick and merciful for him. He deserved slow and painful. Neither of which I could give him with Kurt's gun still leveled at my head.

"Now, let's get a move on before the sun sets, shall we?" I shouldn't have been surprised by now, but I was still astounded how casual Kane was acting about all of this. His crony had _my gun_ aimed at my _head_! One flinch from his finger and I'd be dead in a second and he was talking like we were about to take a stroll through a park!

"Ladies first." Kane motioned to the door, acting as if he was the perfect gentleman. More like making sure if anyone was killed it wouldn't be him, I thought bitterly.

I glanced back, cursing as I realized Kane had grabbed my rifle and had it aimed at me as well. Swinging the door open, I peaked out, stumbling as the muzzle of the rifle hit my back hard enough to send me fully out the door. The bastard _wanted_ me to die! I wondered what he would tell the others about the rescue plan. Probably some bullshit about how a week was the earliest they could get to us and they demanded dinosaur payment.

Thankfully, nothing was out there and we started across the open space in relative peace. Well, as peaceful as you can get with two of your own guns aimed at you on an island where a dinosaur could burst out of the bush at any second.

"Oh, Miss Baker." I paused, my hands clenching again at Kane's voice. He and Kurt had been whispering to each other moments before and the sudden inclination to talk to me worried me a bit.

The two men came up beside me as I finally turned to face them, my disgust at the both of them clearly evident on my face.

The sound was the first sense to register. The deafening _bang_ echoing throughout the trees and alerting every animal on the entire island as to where we were. The second was pain. Oh lord the pain.

My body slammed into the ground, my hand immediately grabbing my right shoulder as it screamed in agony. Or maybe it was me that was screaming. Blood soaked through my hand almost immediately and I knew it would only be a matter of time before every predator around was headed this way.

My vision blurred as pained tears leaked from my eyes, my teeth grinding together. I could see clearly enough to spot the smoking gun in Kurt's hand, the sadistic grin on Kane's face and the new hopelessness that had settled over my situation. There was almost no way I could survive this place.

"Enjoy your final moments Miss Baker. Your help has been greatly appreciated." With those last parting words, Kane and Kurt left, securing the door closed behind them as they entered the building.

And leaving me out here; shot, bleeding and waiting for a predator to come pick me off.

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**XD Please don't hate me too much to leave a review and tell me what you think! Happy 4th of July!**

**Don't forget to vote in the poll!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**


	23. Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I don't own!**

**Hey guys! So this last week has been insane. Went crabbing and got sunburnt, had a family barbeque, got in a car accident and flipped my Jeep onto its side (thus destroying my front differentials and making it temporarily undrivable) AND we had to put my almost 15 year old dog down yesterday. Oh, and today I went and started the process of getting registered for college. So yeah, it's been insane. On the plus, you all responded to my question quickly enough that I was (finally) able to sit down and write out the longest chapter yet! The first part is Billy's pov right before the shooting and when we return to lexi's pov it picks up from that moment as well. **

**A huge shout-out to my awesome reviewers: DarkFireAngel00, Midnight Cheesecake O.o, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, Damico, bayumlikedayum, ninjacat5, Random Fan, shippolove844, mysterygirl123, and the awesomely amazing YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans, who helped beta this chap when I was too tired to do it myself!**

**Please note, this is my first time doing a POV change like this, so I had to rely on the amazing skills of YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans, who is unusually good at writing the male mind. I hope I did dear Billy justice. Enjoy!  
**

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**Billy's POV**

"Would you stop bloody pacing already?" Roland snapped at me as I ignored him and continued to wear a path into the concrete floor.

Too much time had passed; they were taking way too damn long. Why weren't they back yet? If there had been a working phone in the control room they would have been back by now.

It made my gut sink as I realized they had to have gone to the Communications Center. That meant they had to go outside, in the open where trouble was always waiting to pounce and end someone's life.

I could only pray Lexi made it back. I really couldn't care less if Kane did make it or not and frankly Kurt bothered me. I refused to trust either of them and I wish the stubborn woman had let me go with them.

I was useless stuck in here, waiting for bad news to come; it always did on this island. A bad feeling had settled over me as I regretted more and more not going with her. I should have, I was the dinosaur expert here, I should have refused to stay behind.

The silence was slowly killing me as time stretched on and on without any sound but my own footsteps and Roland's occasional growls at me to sit down.

I would take the silence for an eternity over the sound the echoed through the compound. It was muffled from the walls, but the unmistakable blast from the single gunshot froze my body mid-stride. I swear my heart stopped beating for a full minute as we all listened for another shot.

My stomached dropped when there was only a deafening silence following the shot, the temperature in the room dropping to below freezing. The deep frown on Roland's face wasn't helping my spinning mind from jumping to conclusions. Who had been attacked? Who'd been killed? For God's sake why was there only one shot!

The not-knowing was painfully squeezing my heart far more than the quiet had. Where was Lexi? Why wasn't she back yet?

When a loud knock broke through the silence, I finally released the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. They were back. Hopefully uninjured.

Roland unlatched the door, swinging it open enough to let the two men in. the British man looked pointedly at the two before glancing out the door again. Kane shook his head and Roland shut the door.

I stopped breathing as I locked eyes with Kane, demanding to know where Lexi was. If anything happened to her…well I honestly didn't know what I would do.

"She's gone." Kane stated quietly, a sad look seeming to force its way onto his face.

"What the bloody hell happened out there?" Roland snapped, taking the rifle from Kane as he checked it over. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, hell I couldn't even _breathe._ She couldn't be gone, it was impossible. She was too smart to be picked off, too damn stubborn to go out like that.

"On the way back we were surrounded by these animals with big claws on their feet. One of them got her before I could get a shot off. They scattered at the sound." Kane explained, patting Kurt on the back as the man passed by him to join his brother at one of the tables.

"Raptors." It slipped out of my mouth before I even realized it, my heart constricting so tightly it seemed to stop. The sweat that rolled down my skin felt like ice as I fought to get in a breath. It felt like I'd been kicked in the gut, only it hurt _everywhere._

Kane nodded, approaching me as I hunched over, hands on my knees as I forced myself to process what was going on. Lexi was gone, forever. Not just out of my life but off of the face of the earth. She was…she was….I couldn't bare to even think the word; it would make it to final, to irreversible. And it just couldn't be true.

Kane's hand landed on my shoulder and my anger boiled over the surface. It was this bastard's fault we were stuck here in the first place, it was his fault Lexi was gone, it was his fault I could feel my heart shattering into a million pieces.

The motions were blurred to me, and I can't remember them too clearly, but I'd quickly gone from hunched over to smashing my fist into Kane's face. The man stumbled back, surprise flashing across his face as I lunged at him. "And you just left her there?" I shouted, slamming him against the wall and tightening my hands around his throat. This bastard would pay whether I had to take his life myself or not.

"They…they killed her," he choked out, his voice scratching as he attempted to get in oxygen. "Bit her throat, she died immediately." My hands tightened as his face and my vision turned red. All I could think about was how he killed her. Not directly, but he was the sole reason the raptors ever had a chance at her.

"Billy!" I ignored Scott as he shouted at me, not hearing whatever he was yelling. Arms grabbed at mine, trying to pull me off of the rich idiot. I wasn't having it, he was going to die damn it!

Roland entered my peripheral, muttering a 'sorry' before he punched my stomach. I hunched over immediately, releasing Kane as I tried to regain my own breath. Scott grabbed my shoulders, forcing me over to a table in the far corner, where he let me collapse back into a chair.

I dropped my head into my hands, wondering when I had started crying. Raising my head, I caught sight of Kane attempting to stand straight as he coughed and sputtered, color returning to his face as he breathed.

The urge to jump up and kill him was so strong that I actually wanted to. The son of the bitch killed the woman I was in love with.

The tears came harder and faster as the realization slammed into me like a bus. I'd fallen in love with her and damn it all, I'd never told her. My vision was blurred, but I could see well enough to make out Kane, and before I knew it, I found myself trying to stand again.

Pressure on my shoulders kept me down as Scott blocked my view, squatting down and forcing me to look at him. "Killing him won't solve anything." He stated quietly.

I opened my mouth, struggling to speak over the huge lump that had clogged my throat, "He killed her." I finally forced out, it was quiet, meek almost. The voice of a broken man.

"The raptors killed her Billy, and killing him won't bring her back." He whispered, keeping himself positioned between me and the man responsible for the entire mess.

I tried to get back up again, the anger needing some sort of outlet, but Scott simply pushed me back down again and I was amazed at the weakness of my own body.

I felt like I'd run a marathon. Everything hurt, every thought, every heartbeat, every breath sent a jolt of pain shooting through my body. I could only collapse back into the chair and let the tears leak from my eyes and run undisturbed down my face.

The sudden urge to get out of there struck me full force and I was striding towards the door before I even registered moving. I couldn't stay in here with that man, the bastard that destroyed my life by allowing hers to end.

"Billy what the hell? Where are you going?" Scott snapped, attempting to grab my arm and stop me from going…well I didn't know where I was going. But I couldn't just sit there and do nothing! There had to be something I could do.

The locks were a pain in the ass and it took me longer than usual to get the damn things undone. I threw open the door, only to have it slam in my face before I could get out it.

Roland held the door shut, rifle still securely in hand as he stared me down. I glared at him as he prevented me from leaving, kept me from going to her. Perhaps there was still _something_ that could be done, there was always that chance that she could be saved! Especially if the raptors were really scared off like Kane claimed. They never killed their prey right away anyway. She could be alive still, alone and wounded but alive. She had to be, she just _had_ to be!

Hands grabbed my shoulders, roughly spinning me around and slamming me into the wall. "Get a hold of yourself Billy! She's gone, you're going to have to deal with that! Going out and getting yourself killed won't do a damn thing!"

"We have to do something!" I shouted, my own helplessness to save her eating me up, "She's out there still!"

"Damn it, no she's not!" Scott yelled back in my face, trying to get the message to stick with me. I refused to allow it. "You heard Kane, the raptors bit her throat. There's nothing we can do for her."

No, no, no, no, no damn it! There was something! She wouldn't be dead! Raptors don't go for the neck! I slowly stopped my struggling against Scott as the information sank in. My stomached dropped even lower as the bad feeling got a hundred times worse.

Kane stated the raptor went for a kill shot, but they liked to eat their prey alive. I turned to try and find Kane, spotting him further back with an almost _smug_ expression on his face. What the hell?

Spotting the rifle in Roland's hands, I quickly lunged for it, ripping it from him before anyone had a chance to react.

Grabbing the bolt handle, I jerked it open revealing the chamber, with the bullet still inside. "He didn't use this gun." I muttered to myself, wondering if I could be quick enough at aiming to shoot the damn man before anyone could stop me.

"What?" Roland growled, reaching for the gun as I shut the bolt.

"This gun hasn't been fired." I growled, tossing the gun back to the Brit as I forced the door open before anyone could protest, pausing for only a split second before taking off down the hall.

I had no idea where I was going, or what I would find. But I just felt that I had to. I belatedly realized I hadn't looked at the map, so I let my feet take me where they would, praying what I found would ease the pain.

I finally found the door facing the Communications Center and rammed into it. It didn't budge and I dropped back, fresh anger coursing through me as I spotted the secured deadbolt keeping the door locked. That bastard never gave her a chance.

When I tore the door open, the bright sun blinded me and I couldn't see a thing for a long moment. My eyes adjusted to the light, allowing me to see the long stretch of land from the doorway to the center.

It was a blessing and a curse that nothing was there. It meant she had a chance, but it could also mean she'd been drug off. Closing the door behind me, I frowned at the slick substance my hand was met with.

My breath was knocked from me as I spotted the blood. Smeared over the door and along the wall, there was a puddle too, too big to healthy on the ground next to the door. As I took a moment to study the ground I could spot the trail from where she drug herself towards the building.

I turned towards the way the trail went. She had a chance. She had to have survived. She had to.

Following the wall, I came across a clump of cloth. Picking it up, I realized it was a strip of her tank top, completely soaked in blood.

Dropping the piece, I continued on, rounding around the corner and praying she was alive. I momentarily froze as my heart plummeted to my feet when I saw the lump on the ground halfway down the building.

I was running towards her, feeling like I was in one of those slow-motion scenes of a movie, damn it, I couldn't get to her fast enough!

I finally reached her, collapsing next to her body as I carefully rolled her onto her back. My body felt so cold I couldn't tell if it was me or her. My hands shook so much I couldn't even properly feel a pulse. And there was blood. Oh Lord there was so much blood pooled around her limp body.

I pulled her in my arms, tears mixing with blood as I hugged her to me. "Stay with me Lexi. Don't go, don't leave me damn it!" I begged, holding her tighter as I continued to beg and plead for her to survive.

"Billy." I didn't look up at the voice I barely recognized. Whatever he said, I didn't care. I just wanted –no- I _needed_ her to make it.

"God Lexi, I love you. I love you so much." I murmured into her hair, kissing her forehead as I prayed with every ounce of my soul that she somehow pull through.

A figure blocked the sun, sending us both into shadow and I momentarily looked up to see who it was. Blaine squatted down next to me, a sad expression on his face as he looked down at the woman I refused to let go.

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"_When someone's slippin' away, right before your eyes. How useless we are is a painful surprise. You wanna scream, you wanna cry. You want someone to tell you why all the hope that's in your heart is not enough. You hit your knees, you shake your fists. Oh it's the deepest wound there is, when you can't help the one you love." ~Terri Clark_

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**Lexi's POV –immediately after Kurt and Kane left-**

Pain. It consumed my mind. The scorching fires burned through my shoulder, heating to a white hot intensity whenever I tried to move my arm. It screamed to my body to stop moving, to lie still and let nature take its course.

I'd been hurt before, many times, but there was nothing quite like the burning of a bullet tearing through flesh. It made every heartbeat feel like a drum, pounding as an echoing pain reverberated through my head.

Rolling over to my stomach, I reached out with my left hand, grabbing handfuls of dirt as I tried to pull myself towards the compound. I couldn't stay out here for very long. The dead Carnotaurus would draw animals from far away, and it wouldn't take them long to find me.

It was agonizingly slow going, and the pain blinded me several times. My breath came out in gasps as I tried keeping my injured arm elevated to prevent smearing blood everywhere whilst dragging my body closer and closer to the compound.

Panting, I collapsed against the wall, feeling as though hours had passed since I had been shot. Sweat rolled down my face, dripping to the ground and drenching what hadn't been soaked in blood.

Reaching up with my left hand, I grabbed the door handle, tugging on it. I growled in both pain and frustration, those bastards had locked the door from the inside!

Pulling the knife I still had secured to my thigh, I cut my shirt off, hissing as I peel the material off of the wound. Cutting the shirt into strips was easier said than done with only one hand. I finally managed with more than a few curses and a couple almost blackouts from the pain.

Using my good hand and teeth, I managed to wrap the strips around my shoulder and tie them there. The only good news was the bullet went through, so I didn't have to worry about trying to dig it out.

Every nerve felt like it was being slowly shredded with a dull cheese grater; spreading down my limbs and making me pant and sweat even harder. After the sloppy wrapping job was done, I took the remaining strip and attempted to mop up the blood still on me sans what was soaking through my make-shift bandages.

Tossing the soiled cloth as far away as I could, I dug into one of my pockets, glad I had stashed a tank top or two in them when I had found them. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't leave my right arm under it, so with grinding teeth and a few more curses, I slowly threaded the arm through the top, finally pulling it over my head and heaving a sigh.

I was mentally and physically drained by this point, so I collapsed back against the wall, idly wondering how the metal was still so cool in this heat. Closing my eyes, I tried to shut out the pain, focusing solely on the facts of my current situation.

It hit me then how completely hopeless this whole thing was. Supplies where coming for the survivors, but by now Kane and Kurt had made it back to them with some sob story about how I was killed by some sort of dinosaur and how they barely escaped with their pathetic little lives. No one would be looking for me. Rescue wasn't coming for another week and I was bleeding from an open wound that would get infected if I wasn't picked off first.

When I finally opened my eyes I would have screamed if I had the energy to. Instead, I stared wipe-eyed at the Spinosaurus standing in front of me. _Looking straight at me._

She was only 15 yards away and I had to wonder how the hell she got that close without me noticing. It was then that her two infants came out from under her, creeping closer for further inspection.

I was hyperventilating with the knife tight in my hand as the two ventured nearer, ten yards, five, three, two. They stopped a yard shy of me, chattering to each other as they sniffed the air and cocked their heads at me.

Slowly, to not startle them and piss off mom, I pulled my legs in, tucking them to my chest as I realized it was the scent of my blood that got their attention.

One of the babies took another step forward, closing the distance completely. I was literally toe to toe with a young Spinosaurus. Blood dripped both from my shoulder and from their jaws from the meal they had apparently finished.

The one that had stepped closer stretched out its neck, sniffing heavily. My grip on the knife tightened as I waited for the animal to open its mouth. As soon as it showed any sign of attacking, I would strike. But for now, I would stay as still as possible while trying to keep from passing out.

The blood loss, the pain and the fear made for a bad combination, especially with the added hyperventilation. Black spots were hovering over my vision, threatening to consume it completely.

The second infant-upon seeing the first venture so close- took a step forward as well, completely boxing me in. I happened to catch sight of the mother as she watched her young carefully, prepared to strike at any sign of threat to them.

Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place. If the infants attacked and I defended myself, the mother would kill me. Either way I was going to die.

They always say when you're about to die, you're whole life flashes before your eyes. To an extent it's true. I saw bits of memories of Cooper and Nash- two men who'd been more of a family to me than my real one had been- small spurts of my youth, from my first horseback ride to the first time I'd gotten hurt on the job. The lioness attack in Africa replayed in my mind in a split second. It all hit me at once, but it wasn't what stuck.

I saw Billy's face and it took my breath away. It hit me that I'd never hear him speak again, never feel his touch or his kiss again. I would never see him again. It was in that hysterical moment, with tears streaming down my face, mixing with sweat, blood and dirt, being sniffed by two curious Spinosaurus infants, that I had promised to come back to him. I'd promised I'd survive and return to him.

Looks like I'll be breaking that promise. I almost wanted to laugh at the irony of everything. A male Spinosaurus took Nash and Cooper. Now his mate and offspring would take me as well.

The infants' breath blew around my sweat drenched hair as I tried not to think about how much more pain I was about to be in. They were too young to be efficient killing machines; this was going to hurt far worse than any bullet or African lion.

The first baby's muzzle brushed across my forehead as it took in huge breathes, gathering my full scent. Probably trying to determine what the hell it was about to eat. The mother gave out a barking growl, a _get on with it_ most likely.

The two chirped in response, not moving away from me or making a move to attack. I just wanted them to get it over with, the longer they took, the more time I had to dread it.

This time I could feel the adult's footsteps as she gave a louder growl. With almost scared sounding chirps, the infants turned away from me, taking off after their mother as she disappeared into the trees, leaving me breathless and completely stunned.

Why hadn't they killed me? Why did they leave me alive?

It was then I remembered what had drawn them there in the first place. The mother had killed the Carnotaurus defending her infants, which they had then gorged themselves with. That explained the oddly protruding stomachs my mind just processed. They were _full._ That's why they hadn't eaten me. They had already satisfied their hunger, they had come over here to satisfy their curiosity.

I had been spared because a camouflaged dinosaur refused to give up his prey so easily. Never before have I been so glad to have been chased by a dinosaur on this island.

Taking deep, steadying breathes, I tried to pull myself together and ward off the temptation to pass out. Whatever luck I had I'd probably used up and I wasn't about to give it another shot to run out.

Using the locked door handle, I pulled myself up, swaying as my head pounded and my vision faded for a moment. Groaning, I trudged towards the corner of the building, praying I'd find an unlocked door before a predator found me.

The black spots invaded my vision as I slowly made my way along the wall, leaving a trail of blood in my wake. My pace slowed even more as I struggled to stay conscious. I couldn't give up, not yet, not now. Not when I had survived so much already, not when safety could be so close.

I leaned against the wall for a short break, to try and restore some of my energy. At least enough to make it a little further. My shoulder felt like it had a brander permanently attached to it as it flared with pain at every movement. Every heartbeat pounded in my head, adding to the massive headache that was building to a full blown migraine.

I made it a few more steps before my legs finally gave out from under me, sending me crashing to the ground and barely able to bite back a pained scream. My vision completely clouded over as slowly lost the advantage in the fight to keep conscious. I dimly registered that I had never even gotten the chance to tell Billy I loved him before I lost the fight completely and was consumed by a painless darkness.

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**Please drop a review and tell me what you think! I would love to know if and/or when you would like to see Billy's pov again!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**


	24. Of Saving and Losing

**Disclaimer: Yadda, yadda, I don't own.**

**Sorry this one's a bit shorter, but I wanted to get this out tonight since tomorrow's supposed to be busy with my taking college placement exams. Ugh. On the plus side, I love you my dear, wonderful reviewers! A huge thanks to the faithful: DarkFireAngel00, shippolove844, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, Damico, and mysterygirl123**. **Who once again encouraged me with their wonderful reviews. This chapter is dedicated to YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans and bayumlikedayum, not only for the awesome reviews but for helping me through a small case of writer's block, you guys don't even realize how much you rock!**

**Enjoy chapter 24, which is all Billy's pov!**

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**Billy's POV**

I watched Blaine warily as he slowly made a move to reach for Lexi. It was a struggle to not pull her away from him; I had to fight every instinct in me to stay still, to see what his intentions were before I did something drastic.

"I went to med school for a few years. I can help Billy." He said softly, gently reaching for her neck as he felt for a pulse. "She's alive, barely, but it's there." His words washed over me as relief soaked through my bones. She was alive, she hadn't left me yet.

She still could though, she was on the brink, I could still lose her. "We need to get her inside, there was a med kit in the cafeteria." He ordered. I nodded, gently pulling her closer to me as I used my other hand to scoop up her legs, carrying her bridal-style as I followed Blaine back to the compound door.

I looked down at her and picked up the pace. She was pale and her skin was getting colder by the second. Roland was standing by the door with one of the other men who held the rifle. Ignoring the oddity, I shot past both of them, following Blaine to the back of the room where he swept off a table before turning to find the med kit.

I gently laid her on the table, pulling up a chair so I could sit next to her, never once letting go of her hand. "Don't give up on me now Lexi." I muttered, gently kissing the back of her hand.

Blaine came back seconds later, an AED and an aid kit in his hands. I could only watch as he unwrapped her makeshift bandages, quickly covering the area with gauze as blood continued to poor out.

I turned away from the sight, bile rising in my throat as I realized it was extremely unlikely she would make it. Fighter or not, she was still human, and she'd lost a lot of blood. I settled for watching her face, peaceful and quiet as she remained unconscious.

As Blaine worked in patching up her shoulder, I periodically checked the rise and fall of her chest. The last reassurance I had that she was still here, until she let out a breath and didn't take another.

"Blaine!" I could feel the panic rising exponentially the longer she went without breathing.

He paused for only a few seconds to feel for her heartbeat before shooting for the AED, "Start CPR!" he commanded.

I didn't think I could get my body to move, but somehow I was by her head, tilting her chin and covering her mouth with my own before I even realized I'd left my seat.

Two breathes before I moved to chest compressions, praying she make it. We'd come too far to lose her now. 30 compressions and I was tilting her chin again, forcing her to take in air. "Come on damn it!" I cursed, giving another breath as Blaine cut her shirt off.

Placing the pads on her chest, he worked around me as I continued the compressions, wondering how I was going to mentally survive this if I lost her. "Clear!" Blaine commanded and I immediately jumped back without thinking.

Her body arched as the electricity shot through her, trying to get her heart beat to a stronger rhythm. I swear I could feel the jolt in my own heart as I watched helplessly. He gave her three shocks before the machine stated she'd flat-lined.

Everything seemed to stop in those moments; my own heart, my breath, my whole world came screeching to a halt. I couldn't move, I could only stand there, staring at her still face that seemed to be lost in the realm of sleep. Not _dead. _

Blaine suddenly jumped onto the table, straddling her waist as he slammed his fist onto her chest. "What the hell?" I yelled, catching his arm.

"Trust me, where she is now, she won't feel a thing!" Blaine snapped, yanking his arm free and continuing to pound on her chest.

"It might be the only way to save her." Scott stated quietly, resting what was supposed to be a comforting hand on my shoulder. When the hell had he gotten here? I wondered, realizing that a crowd had gathered around the table without my noticing.

I winced with every _thump_ of Blaine's fist, fighting every instinct in me telling me to stop him. I couldn't watch this, couldn't watch as he beat on her and she slipped further and further away from me. But I couldn't bring myself to look away either. Instead I stepped forward, sitting back in the chair and taking her limp hand again.

My vision blurred as the tears came again, the seconds ticking by as my emotions came closer and closer to bursting over. They were warring and mixing together so much I couldn't even say which was winning. Anger, heartbreak, hopelessness; it boiled to the surface as time continued to go by and Lexi remained still and unresponsive.

_Thump, thump, thump._ Blaine's hits landing in unison with my own heartbeat. "I've got a pulse!" Blaine shouted, jumping off the table as my head shot up. _Thump, thump, thump. _I looked in surprise at the still limp hand I held. It wasn't his hits, but her own heart struggling to work again! It was weak, but it was there! "Clear!" reluctantly I let go of her hand, nodding to Blaine before he sent another shock to her system.

My breath whooshed out of me when the machine stated another shock wasn't needed. I picked up her hand again, feeling her wrist and letting a relieved smile flash over my lips as I felt her heart return to its stronger beat.

Blaine put his fingers up to her pulse point on her neck, staying still for a moment as he focused on her heart rate. With a sigh he pulled back, packing up the AED and wrapping up the stitching he'd finished on her wound. "She's a hell of a fighter Billy." He stated, cleaning off his hands before patting my back, returning the kits to wherever he'd found them.

He'd done all he could, now it was completely up to her to pull through. She had to, after going through all that. She was going to, I refused to listen to the doubt. I shoved it into the farthest recesses of my mind, focusing on how she was going to pull through. Now it was waiting for her to wake up, to break the binds of unconsciousness and return to us, return to _me._

It was just a matter of time.

The crowd dispersed, everyone returning to what they had been doing before we'd entered so dramatically. I stayed with her, not trusting anyone to be alone with her for a second. I made a promise to myself to never leave her again, where she went, I would also. If we survived this, I would keep that promise. Even after we reached the mainland.

As time ticked by and I continued to sit there, her steady pulse reassuring me she was still alive, I let my mind wonder. To the past, the present and to the potential future.

My words came back to me from earlier. I'd said I loved her without even thinking. It had just tumbled out of my mouth when I saw her out there; the fear of it being too late spurring the words.

But did I? Could I honestly see myself spending the rest of my life with this woman? I looked at her face, peaceful, relaxed and beautiful even covered in sweat and blood. I didn't have an answer for myself.

I was attracted to her, that was for sure. But not just on the physical level, it had grown beyond that. I was drawn to her like a bee to honey, like a paleontologist to a dinosaur. I let a small humorous smile pass over my face at the thought before letting my mind turn serious again.

This kind of connection was something I'd never experienced before, but it felt natural, if felt _right._ And I suppose that's what scared me the most. We never would have met were it not for the Kirby's son getting stranded on this island. Hell, there were a million factors that could have kept us from meeting. And afterwards, well we never spent any prolonged period of time together when life had returned to a semblance of normalcy. I'd see her and then she'd disappear again. Who knew if we'd even work in a normal life?

I sighed as I realized our chances of working were about as likely as us surviving this second trip. _But,_ I thought, looking over her still features once again, _I'll be damned if I don't try. I won't let her disappear so easily this time._ I vowed, squeezing her hand slightly.

I could have sworn I felt a squeeze back, looking up I waited with baited breath for her to make some sort of move. But she remained still and blissfully unaware of any and everything going on around her.

Time ticked by as I let my mind wonder down different paths. Of roads not taken, choices not made, possibilities passed on. I briefly wondered if this was how Alan had felt about Ellie. He'd told me once, on a late night of celebrating a great find at the dig site, that he'd been thinking he could spend forever with her. That after the Nublar incident they'd dated for a while, he'd even started looking at rings. Hell, he'd even shown me the diamond he'd finally bought.

But then it all had come crashing down before he'd gotten the chance to ask. She left and they didn't see each other for years, not until after she'd met Mark and wanted to get back in touch with him. By then she'd had her first boy Charlie and it was too late for either of them. I knew Alan was still in love with her in some way, I knew he still had the engagement ring tucked away in a drawer somewhere and I couldn't help but worry we would end up that way.

Alan may be like a second father to me, but I sure as hell didn't want to end up like him. Pining after a married woman and mad at the world for it.

I still remember that night like it was yesterday, he had tossed a shot back, tucked the ring back into his pocket and slapped my back, advising to '_don't make the same damn mistakes I did kid. Or you'll end up a weather-beaten old grouch who scares kids.'_

I couldn't help but smile softly at the memory, Alan had been slightly tipsy by that time. After all, finding a complete fossil of a T-rex was extremely rare and entirely worthy of a good strong drink or two.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as a can of beans was set on the table in front of me along with a water canteen. Captain Scott pulled up a seat next to me, looking over Lexi before turning to me and his own can.

"Well it won't do either of you any good if you don't eat, so stop fretting about things that can wait and eat." His direct and rather blunt way of saying things was admittedly refreshing and made him that much more likable. I didn't know him very well, we'd only exchanged a few words on the ship before the incident. But he had an honest air about him, and I couldn't help but trust him.

Which was extremely relieving, I cast a glare at Kane, after all, I really couldn't trust many of the people here. Scott I could, Roland was against Kane enough to be an ally and Blaine, well I hadn't quite figured out his motive yet.

Currently he was sitting a table away, his back to his brother and Kane, neither of which he'd spoken to since we'd come back. He'd saved Lexi's life though, when he could have stood by and let Kane have his way, and that marked him as safe in my book, even if he didn't completely have my trust.

I looked over the rest of the survivors scattered about the room, I didn't trust any of them. They hadn't raised a hand in helping anyone so it was up in the air whose side they were on. But judging from the way they were more closely gathered to Kane, I'd say they weren't on mine.

Slowly I relinquished my grip on Lexi's hand, taking up the canister of beans and spoon. It was no 5-star meal, but it sated hunger and kept me alive so it was good enough.

"She's something else isn't she?" Scott stated after a long moment, idly scraping his spoon along the inside of his can.

"Yeah, she is." I muttered, wondering where the hell he was trying to take this.

He didn't say anymore though, just simple sat and watched me. It was unnerving to say the least, his eyes clearly stating he knew something I didn't. "What?" I finally asked after finishing the beans, his almost unblinking stare really grating on my nerves.

He flashed a grin, "I was right." Before he stood and walked away without another word. _What the hell?_ Just what was that supposed to mean? He was right? About what?

Shaking my head, I pushed the oddity away, wondering how much of the island had gotten to the Captain's head. Sighing, I looked back over at Blaine, who was still sitting in the same place completely alone.

I gave Lexi one last look before standing, forcing myself to walk towards the other man. When I reached him, I turned to face him, making sure I could keep an eye on the unconscious woman at the same time.

I offered my hand, waiting for him to take it before speaking. He did after a long pause, a questioning eyebrow raised. "Thank you, for saving her life." I said, letting the sincerity of my words ring out loud and clear.

"She's not out of the woods yet." He remarked dryly, glancing over at her before returning his attention to me.

I knew it was the truth but it wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear verbalized. "I know, but you did what you could. You did something when others wouldn't. So, thank you." He saved her, whether he'd be too modest to admit it or not, he'd brought her back from the dead. Gave her a better chance. _And saved my last ounces of sanity_, I thought dryly.

A small smile graced his lips before quickly turning to a frown as he looked over at his brother. "It was the least I could do, really." He left it at that and the conversation ended. I gave him a simple nod and left him to his thoughts, returning to my chair by Lexi's too still body.

Grabbing her hand again, I pulled it up to my lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it, "Wake up soon, _please_." I pleaded quietly, wishing there was some way she could hear me.

There was a clatter of a chair hitting the ground but I didn't look up. I did when the yelling started though. Shock and surprise hit me as I took in the scene unfolding across the room.

Blaine had forsaken his silent brooding and was in his brother's face, shouting words that barely made sense to me as they echoed and overlapped throughout the room. He was clearly furious about something and Kurt was quickly getting angry as well. His own voice raising the sound level as the two brothers faced off with each other.

Then Blaine threw a punch and all hell broke loose.

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think! I'd also love to know who you'd like to see get eaten and by what!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**p.s. I took a first aid class a few months ago, so that's about as much experience as I have with treating major wounds. If it was wrong, meh, oh well I guess! Haha. Review! Feed my addiction! Please?**

**p.s.s NEW POLL! The story title is subject to change, vote to keep it the same or become something new!  
**


	25. Of Fighting and Waking

**Disclaimer: I don't own!**

**Er, sorry it's been a little while, I had a little struggle with writer's block. However, a huge thanks to YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans for telling me to 'just get to it!' You rock! And seeing the midnight showing of Deathly Hallows Part 2 was awesome, sad it's over :(**

**Thanks so much to the rest of my loyal and amazing reviewers! DarkFireAngel00, shippolove844, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, bayumlikedayum, Damico, Random Fan, mysterygirl123, DGfleetfox, BlueRose22, and Dino-SOAR, you guys are awesome! Sorry this chap is short, but an update is an update right? :D Enjoy!**

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_World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor; it requires only that they live with mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement. ~Unknown_

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**Billy's POV**

Kurt had barely recovered from Blaine's hit when he retaliated, launching himself full force at his brother. He slammed Blaine into a table, causing it to crack and give way. Blaine responded with a kick to the gut, sending Kurt back a few feet and giving Blaine the time necessary to jump up.

The two men tackled each other again, fists flying in such a quick succession it was impossible to follow. It wasn't long before the two were on the floor, neither able to get the proper upper hand over the other.

"Knock it off!" Scott shouted, shocking nearly everyone into silence. His tone of command making it clearly obvious why he was a Captain; but not everyone headed his order. The brothers continued their fight whilst shouting insults at each other. Scott leaned down as the two came close to him, grabbing Blaine and forcibly tearing him off of Kurt. "I said cool it!" he snapped, shoving Kurt back as he made another move towards Blaine. "Next one to throw a punch gets their ass thrown outside." He growled.

I part of me didn't believe the usually calm and cool man would really follow through with his threat, but his tone had been cold enough that no one was willing to test it.

"Squabbling like this will do nothing but get us all killed faster. From now on, unless you have something useful to say just shut it! We can save dealing with personal problems later." Scott finished his rant, turning on his heel and returning to the seat he had been at moments before. The room remained eerily silent as the two brothers continued to glare at each other, everyone waiting to see who would act first.

Finally Blaine gave a stiff nod, jaw clenched tight as he turned and walked away. Kurt continued to glare after him for a moment longer before turning and returning to the seat he'd been in before the entire confrontation started.

I turned away from the dispersing crowd, heading towards Blaine who was rubbing his jaw. His left eye was swelling and he had blood trickling from his nose and lips. He looked like hell, but I couldn't help but be glad Kurt looked worse.

Kurt's nose was obviously broken and bleeding all over, a fat split lip and a black eye to match his swelling right cheek. He was also rubbing his ribs where Blaine had gotten in a good shot.

I moved towards Blaine at the same time as Scott, both of us curious as to what started the fight. Well, I was more curious, the Captain was hell bent on figuring it out.

"What the hell was that about?" Scott snapped as soon as he was close enough, tossing the other man a wet cloth to clean himself up.

Blaine made a gesture towards Lexi, cursing as he cracked his nose back into place. "That wound wasn't done by any dinosaur, it was a bullet." I'd known this, deep in the back of my mind I had as soon as I'd realized the rifle hadn't been fired and seen Lexi unconscious and bleeding. But hearing him say it out loud made it real. I could feel my urge to punch something coming back full force.

Scott was doing remarkably well at keeping his cool, staying calm as those around him lost it. It pissed me off. How could he stay so calm when Lexi was _shot!_

"So why did you go after Kurt?" Scott asked, standing next to me. It didn't pass my notice that he had also placed himself between me and Kane.

"Billy was right, the rifle wasn't fired. A 9mm pistol was." Blaine leaned back in his seat, tilting his head to try and staunch his bleeding nose. "That's the gun Kurt's carrying."

I was seeing red and ready to charge towards Kurt before I even fully realized what I was doing. Not only was Kane a conniving bastard but he was ordering his cronies to do his dirty work! And Kurt was stupid enough to do it!

"Billy, for God's sake stop." Scott ordered, keeping himself between Kurt and I. I tried to push past him but he refused to budge, "I wasn't kidding about my threat. You throw a punch and you're out of here. Go back to Lexi."

I refused to listen to him; I wanted to put Kurt's head through the wall. "He shot her." I growled, attempting to get to the idiot.

"Go back to Lexi." Scott ordered again, forcibly spinning me the opposite way, "The last thing we need is another fight." He snapped. He may have been less than an inch taller than me, but he was burlier.

Grumbling to myself at the complete lack of sanity among the survivors, I returned to Lexi's too still body. Her even breathing not changed despite all that was happening around her.

The stress of this whole situation was suffocating, constantly constricting and adding more weight that I could take. We needed something good to happen soon or I was going to lose it.

"Damn it Lexi, wake up!" I pleaded, my voice far more pitiful than I wanted to admit. Her breathing hitched and I froze, anxiously waiting for her to open her eyes. She was waking up finally.

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**Lexi's POV**

I was right on the brink, where the senses were dulled to the point of being unrecognizable and my whole body felt like it was floating. It was a high almost, a painless place between dreams and reality. It was limbo. And it was peaceful, quiet and safe. It was the perfect place to be and I fought to remain in it.

It was the only place where I could recall a dream in perfect clarity while maintaining a sort of rational thought. Limbo was the place where I couldn't be certain I was waking up or dying. Do I go towards the light? Or do I return to the dark? It was confusing, but I was still carefree here. I had no worries, no pains, nothing to ruin the peace that had fallen over my mind.

I wondered if I had died and this really was limbo, if Cooper and Nash would magically show up and tell me some philosophical prophecy before sending me back or welcoming me home like all of the stories.

Whether this was limbo or not, they didn't show up, nor was there any grand voice that whispered advice or a 'welcome home' or any cliché like that. Hell, there wasn't even a white light.

No it was dark, but I was at peace. My body was pain free and relaxed; my mind quiet as thoughts lazily drifted around in controlled order-something that hadn't happened since I could remember.

My feet were moving, yet I didn't seem to be going anywhere, but I didn't care. I felt like I had slept for a week and could run a marathon. It was good here, slow and silent in a comforting way. I was completely alone, but I didn't _feel_ alone.

It was like two strong, warm arms had wrapped themselves around me, giving me strength and a feeling of protection. I felt invincible, I felt like I could take on the world. I felt like I could _lift_ up the world and run across the universe with it. I felt powerful and unstoppable, like I could do anything, even fly. Well, that could be the floating feeling too I guess. Regardless, everything just felt _right_ here. I felt love even though I was alone, I _felt_ innocent and almost childlike even though my mind and body had gone through hell. I felt _free._

It all came crashing down the second I broke from the limbo.

The first thing I heard and felt was my heart, pounding in a steady rhythm like an enormous drum. It drowned out everything else my ears could have possibly picked up. It didn't bother me though; it was just a sound, a simple sound that was comforting because it assured me I was still alive.

It lasted all of a second.

Then the pain hit, like a tidal wave of scorching lava it lit a fire in my skin, burning its way down every nerve and fiber of my being. I wanted to scream, to cry, to make some sort of noise to make it stop. My mouth refused to open and I couldn't make a sound, my body didn't respond to any of the commands I tried to give it.

I was stuck in a paralyzed state as needles of pain pierced my shoulder and spread down my veins. It was unlike anything I had experienced before, second only to the Spinosaurus ripping open my back.

Everything hurt and I couldn't move a damn inch, I was trapped in my own body. Finally I broke through whatever foggy barrier had kept me partially unconscious as I heard a voice. I couldn't tell what it said, but it pleaded in a painstakingly familiar voice. I knew who it was, I just couldn't place the name. My mind was still too shrouded in the bleariness of just waking up.

I felt exhausted, like I hadn't slept in days. _Or been shot._ I thought bitterly has rational thought slowly came back to me. My body told me to stop trying to wake up, just let myself fall back into the unconscious bliss.

I knew I couldn't afford to though, I could no longer feel the sun beating down on me so who knew how long I'd been out of it. It was a miracle something hadn't found me yet.

Sucking in a breath, I forced my eyes open, waiting a long moment as my vision finally cleared in the dim lighting. Something wasn't right.

When I'd passed out I'd been outside, now I was looking up the ceiling of the cafeteria. How'd I get in here?

My answer entered my field of vision, his lips moving but none of the words registering in my pain-addled brain. Billy. My savior in more ways than one.

Gingerly I reached up with my left hand, cupping his cheek as I gave a pained smile. This was real. He grinned down at me, relief evident on his face as he spoke to someone else.

Grabbing his shoulder, I slowly pulled myself up despite the obvious protest he was trying to give. I couldn't take laying at the hard table anymore.

Swinging my legs over the side, I panted as I waited for the room to stop spinning. Billy stood in front of me, a steadying hand on my uninjured shoulder.

When everything finally stopped and came into focus, I noticed Blaine next to Billy. Immediately I tensed, not forgetting that it was his brother that had shot me.

"Lexi? Can you hear me?" he asked, flashing a light in my eyes. I winced as I was temporarily blinded, mentally cursing any and all things associated with Kane.

I turned to look over my shoulder, surprised to see an almost professional wrapping around it and what felt like stitches underneath. "Blaine cleaned you up." Billy's voice broke through my musings, surprising me with the message within his words. _He saved your life._

My eyes met Blaine's, the man looking almost sheepish. "Billy saved your life when he busted out of here and found you. I just did what I was trained to."

"Thank you." I forced out, my voice cracking as I realized how dry my throat was. Almost immediately a water canteen was held in front of me. Gratefully I took it from Billy, taking down several large gulps before passing it back.

It was pushed back to me, "You lost a lot of blood, drink it all." Blaine ordered, nodding to Billy before walking back to wherever he'd been before.

"You heard the doc, drink up." Billy grinned as he watched me. The pain in my shoulder dulled just enough I could push it from the forefront of my mind, flaring only if I attempted to move my right arm.

I finished off the water, tossing it off to the side as I fully looked over Billy. He looked unhurt, even though he was covered in blood. _My blood_, I realized.

He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my forehead before pulling back only slightly. "You have no idea how happy I am you woke up." He murmured so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

_I think I have some idea._ I thought, clearly seeing the relief playing across his face. With a start I realized there was too much of it for if I'd just been unconscious. Something had happened, and it had scared him.

I'd almost died, I still could. Hell, I probably _would_ sometime throughout the next week we were stranded here. And I'd be damned if I allowed myself to go without tasting him one more time.

Wrapping my left hand around the back of his neck, I pulled him to me; crashing our lips together and igniting a fiery passion for all of a second.

Because we where then interrupted but a voice I never wanted to hear, "Well isn't this sweet?" I growled under my breath at Kane's voice, pulling slightly away from Billy.

I turned to face the man, my whole body freezing as I took in the scene playing out in front of me.

Kurt had my gun leveled at his brother's head, Kane had my rifle pointed at Billy and I. And 4 of the other men had guns pointed at Scott and Roland. The other six unarmed men stood behind Kane, awaiting whatever orders he would give them.

Well, shit.

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**Well, now that the slow times are over, it's time to pick things up again! And no worries, the dinosaurs will be returning in a much bigger way in the coming chapters! Please drop a review and let me know what you think!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**p.s. I'm not sure if I will return to Billy's POV, let me know if you'd like to see it again! Don't forget to vote in the poll!  
**


	26. Shift in Power & Loss of One

**Disclaimer: Yadda yadda, don't own!**

**A huge thanks to my faithful reviewers: bayumlikedayum, dino-SOAR, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, shippolove844, mysterygirl123, Damico, DarkFireAngel00 and the wonderfully amazing YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans! You guys rock!**

**Thankfully my writer's block seems to have eased up a bit. Figures since the sun is starting to come out more and I like to spend the day outside instead of at the computer. Oh well, I write better at weird hours of the night anyways ;) Enjoy the chap and don't forget to tell me what you think!**

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I stared in disbelief at the madman waving the rifle at me. I felt Billy tense before he slowly repositioned himself to be in-between Kane and I. It was touching really, except I really wanted to push him aside and strangle the idiotic rich man.

"Now I tried to be patient and understanding, but frankly this is taking too long. _I _paid for this voyage, so _I _am giving the orders and _you_ are going to follow them." Kane ordered, threateningly waving the rifle at the two of us. He cast a glance over at Roland, making his statement loud and clear. He no longer cared about experience, he was in command and he didn't care what the rest of us had to say about it.

"Crazy bastard." I growled, not caring in the slightest that he had heard me.

Kane's eyes narrowed as he looked at me and I met him glare for glare. The amount of pure hate I felt for this man couldn't be described accurately enough in words. It was so strong that for the first time in my life I honestly considered murder. And it was startling at how much the thought didn't bother me. He stepped towards me, the muzzle of the gun still aimed in my direction. With him in command we were all going to die anyway, there was no point in fearing death now, whether it was from an armed maniac or a dinosaur.

Billy tried to force himself completely between us, but two of Kane's unarmed cronies moved forward and ripped him away from me, holding him back even as he struggled. In the quick glance I sent his way, I could see the same hate flowing through him at Kane as it was in me. The rich man was now directly in front of me, sneering down his nose at me with his I'm-better-than-you-and-I-know-it attitude. "You will only speak when spoken too. And you _will_ follow orders."

If my damn shoulder didn't hurt so bloody bad at the moment, I would have taken the risk of pouncing on him and ripping the gun from his hands before shooting him myself. But the steady pulsing pain reminded me that even if I wanted to, I physically couldn't do it at the moment. But that certainly didn't mean I was going to lie down like some beaten pup. "And if I don't?" I growled, pushing myself off of the table to finally stand, albeit slightly wobblier than I had wanted. I managed to steady myself as I placed my left hand on my hip, leveling my glare directly on Kane.

"Then we may just have a repeat of earlier, with less happy results." He threatened, jabbing my shoulder with the muzzle of the rifle. I barely bit back the hiss as the pain tripled, it made me woozy and my vision darken for a moment before it slowly lessened and returned to normal.

I waited for a moment longer, regaining my breath as fury and hatred mixed together to create a rather potent mix. "You really think I'm scared of you, you rotten son of a bitch?" I growled, wanting nothing more than to bash his face in.

Kane's rather sadistic grin made me pause in my murderous thoughts as his eyes flashed from me to a still struggling Billy. "I see I'm hitting the wrong pressure point. Perhaps this will work better. You do as _I _command, or I shoot…" he trailed off slightly, slowly moving the rifle away from me. My body froze as I saw what he was doing. "him." He finished, a triumphant smirk plastered on his face. I could barely breathe as Billy ceased his movements once the rifle was pointed directly at him.

It was right then that I made a promise to myself. If I was going to be killed on this damned island, I was taking Richard Kane with me.

As much as my common sense was telling me to keep my mouth shut, I just couldn't stop the words from coming, "Why not just shoot me now and finish the job?"

Kane just gave that damn smirk as he stepped slightly back from me, "Because my dear, just as Mr. Brennan is leverage over you, you are leverage over him." He turned towards Billy, keeping the rifle aimed at me to make sure his meaning came through loud and clear.

"And what is your _leverage_ over us?" Scott spoke up, a sharp edge to his voice I'd never heard from him before. _Damn it, keep your mouth shut!_ I thought, watching as Kane turned his attention to the Captain. He looked between the three men that had refused to 'join' his side, passing the gun over all of them. His smirk threatened to drop for a moment as he noticed none of them were fazed much by the gun. Only Blaine gave a slight flinch, but his eyes had quickly shot to his brother, who had chosen to watch Kane's movements.

Kane's grin came back full force as he pointed the gun towards me again, "She is, of course. After all, none of you want her death on your conscious, now do you?"

Silence reigned after that statement, and Kane looked positively gleeful as he took in our expressions. He took it as defeat, as us accepting his superiority. But as soon as he turned his back, I recognized the expression that passed over their faces; it was the same one on mine. We'd all made the same promise to ourselves. Kane was not going to make it off of this island alive.

In was in that silence that a dim roar started to echo throughout the building, steadily getting louder as the thing drew nearer. Kane's grin widened and I realized it was a plane, probably dropping the supplies like Kane had ordered. "Now, we've been here quite long enough, don't you think?" he didn't expect an answer, nor did he get one.

He nodded to the cronies holding Billy, who finally let him go before moving to stand next to Kane. Billy was at my side in a second, his arms wrapping around me and pulling me towards him. Kane was distracted by talking to some of his cronies, so while we had that brief moment of peace, I looked up at Billy, "Whatever happens, he doesn't live." He nodded, landing a kiss to my forehead before Kane's obnoxious voice forced our attention back to him.

"Now, let's go get those supplies, shall we?" his unarmed cronies unlatched the door, stepping into the hall before turning to wait for the rest of us.

I refused to move for a long moment, until Kurt and the other 4 gun-wielding men moved behind us, herding us together like sheep before motioning us to get a move on. I hesitated a moment longer, simply to piss Kane off a little more before finally taking the first step. Billy stayed at my side, an arm wrapped around my waist to keep me steady. I was extremely thankful for his presence, even if he was being used as leverage against me. Scott walked on my other side as Roland took over the lead position and Blaine brought up the rear.

We were surrounded by Kane's men, with no other choice but to follow a mad man's orders. Yup, we were doomed.

As soon as we were all in the hall, Kane started leading the way towards the back exit, where I'd been shot. Where enough blood had been spilt to attract several predators and enough time had passed for them to be there.

Speaking up wasn't an option, no matter what I said, I knew I was the last person Kane would listen to. Thankfully I wasn't the only one to realize this fact. So when Roland stopped, causing the rest of us to stop, Kane couldn't help but look back and acknowledge the British man.

"Mr. Kane." It was obvious how much Roland was struggling to be respectful, he was used to the command position, even over his employers. Kane raised an eyebrow, silently motioning the man to continue. "Miss Baker lost a lot of blood out that way, there are bound to be predators waiting. I suggest we go out on the opposite side of the building." I had to admire how well the man kept his temper in check and his tone in control. He honestly sounded like he had nothing but Kane's best interests at heart. It was quite obvious by the glare he sent once the man had turned away that he was more interested in keeping the rest of us alive. Besides the cronies, I don't think any of us gave a damn about what happened to Kane, though we were all hoping for something slow and painful.

"Right you are Mr. Tembo." He turned the group around, motioning for Roland to lead the way. I leaned a bit on Billy as a wave of dizziness swept over me. Once it passed, I gave him a grateful smile, taking in his exhausted appearance. Dark bags had come in under his eyes and I wondered when the last time he slept was. When we finally passed by a window, I could spot the sun breaching over the trees, rising on our…..fifth? day here. Honestly the days were starting to run together and I couldn't give an official count of how long we'd been here.

As we traipsed down the halls, I couldn't help but feel something was watching us. What I hadn't the slightest clue, but it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I tried to focus on our surroundings, but the woozy episodes were making it difficult. Fortunately we made it outside without any incident, but as we left the compound and crossed into the trees, I could have sworn I heard the metal door clang shut again.

With the sun stilling making its climb, it was relatively cool under the trees, at least enough so I didn't feel like passing out. Kane looked around, pausing for only a brief second before he lead the way again, rifle in hand and one of his cronies standing by his side. I recognized the man as Carter, one of the men who had raided the vending machines.

The two others, Jack and Brian, were behind us, both armed and keeping their eyes peeled. That being watched feeling was back again, and I just _knew_ that it wasn't my imagination playing tricks on me when I heard the branches cracking and the leaves crunching. It wasn't the men either, we were being followed. But by what?

I pushed against Billy a little harder, forcing him to side step more into the middle of the group, whatever it was, I had a feeling it was about to show itself. "What?" he asked quietly, careful to keep the others from hearing.

"We're being followed." I whispered back, watching the bushes for any sign of an ambush. "At least one behind, I can't tell if there are others."

"If there are others than we're in trouble." He grimaced and I knew instantly what he was thinking. There was only one creature that would stalk and surround its prey, waiting for the perfect time to ambush.

"You think it's raptors?" I asked, studying each and every disturbance in the surrounding foliage.

"I don't know, I can't spot anything else, but…" he trailed off as I mentally finished his thought, '_but if it is raptors, they know how to stay hidden.'_

Roland and Scott seemed to catch whatever I had heard as I noticed their backs stiffen and their eyes shoot to the trees. The rest of the men remained oblivious and with them holding the guns, well, we were doomed for sure.

Roland stopped, causing the rest of us to do the same as Kane gave him a questioning look. He held up his hand, motioning for us all to be quiet. That's when I head the footsteps more clearly, along with an almost squeaky kind of hoot. I could relax only slightly as I couldn't recognize the sound, it wasn't a velociraptor, but that didn't mean it was any less dangerous.

The rest of the group heard it as well and turned to face to the source of the sound. The creature that walked into our sight very well could have been a raptor cousin, while he didn't have the killing claw that raptors were famous for, its general body structure was much the same. He was bigger than the other pack hunters, easily seven feet tall, with two colorful crests adorning his head.

"Dilophosaurus." I heard Billy mutter under his breath. The men around us raised their guns, waiting for orders to shoot. Kane remained quiet, and when I chanced a glance at him, his pure fascination and awe over the creature made my stomach roll. He wanted to take this animal off the island, and, I realized with dread, he wasn't going to order his men to kill it.

The hooting stopped as the dinosaur studied us, cocking his head before letting out a hiss that sounded almost like a rattlesnake. Colorful frills shot up around the animal's head as he continued to hiss at us. "Cover your eyes!" Billy ordered, tucking my head into his chest as he turned us away from the animal.

One of the men screamed and I pulled away from Billy long enough to take in the disgusting sight. A tar like substance coated his face as he screamed, dropping to the ground and trying to claw his own eyes out. The Dilophosaurus shot forward, ripping his thick claws through the man's gut and spilling his intestines everywhere. "Shoot it!" Roland shouted as Kane remained watching in awe. The men didn't seem to care who gave the orders and they started firing at the animal, who hissed and wrapped his jaws around the down man's head, dragging him off into the brush.

I buried my head into Billy's chest, fighting back the bile that was threatening to come up. The man was still screaming, pain, agony and fear laced into the terrified yell before it was abruptly cut short. "They don't hunt alone." He warned.

No sooner had the words come from his mouth did two other Dilophosaurs come out of the bushes, both much smaller than the first. The men didn't hesitate this time, as soon as they saw them they opened fire, killing one while the other shot back into the woods. "Everyone move!" Roland shouted as we all followed him further into the trees. The dead man's screams echoed in my mind as the image of his spilling guts refused to be pushed from my mind.

The running made my head pound as I started slowing, tripping over nearly every damn root and twig. If Billy hadn't of been there to support some of my weight, I would have fallen behind and been left. I was still lagging though, and dragging Billy back with me.

The chirping of what I knew to be Compys came from behind us as they followed us, waiting for someone to fall behind. It made me push myself harder, despite the pounding in my skull and shoulder and protesting from my body as a whole. I wanted nothing more than to stop, but I wasn't ready to die, not yet.

Thankfully the group began to slow as more distance was put between us and the Dilophosaurs. Sixteen, there were sixteen of us left. We had already lost someone and we hadn't even been away from the compound for a full hour yet. And we still had almost a week left before rescue came! There was no possible way anyone was going to last.

_Well_, _at least that means Kane won't make it._ My exhausted and slightly sadistic brain thought sourly. I looked ahead at the back of the idiot's head as we finally slowed to a quick walk, hoping he would fall into a quicksand pit and the Compys would get him or something. Anything but a large predator, he didn't deserve a quick death.

My stumbling steadily got worse the further we went as the need to hurl came on strong. I heaved a few times, my empty stomach preventing anything from coming up. Suddenly my feet were no longer on the ground and it took a long moment before it registered that Billy had picked me up and was carrying me. "Billy…" I started, ready to explain that I could walk myself, that he didn't need to exhaust himself further.

"Don't start Lexi. You'll walk yourself to death at this rate." I opened my mouth to protest when he cut me off…again, "Just rest for now, if anything happens you'll know." He stated dryly, refusing to budge even the slightest in his decision.

I gave him a half-hearted glare before giving in, knowing deep down that he was right. So I leaned my head against his chest, letting the steady rhythm of his walk lull me into a light sleep. I couldn't say how long he carried me or for how long I slept, but when I opened my eyes again the trees around us were a much darker green and the sun was nearly directly overhead. The Compys' chirps had also been silenced; they'd gone off in search of an easier meal apparently.

"I can walk now." I mumbled, feeling the massive headache from earlier subside. He gave me a long look before finally nodding and setting me on my feet. Thankfully the pain in my shoulder had gone down to an almost ignorable level as long as I didn't move my arm.

The group stopped and I noticed we were at the banks of a large lake, a small creek running into and out of it. I frowned, wondering why on earth the obviously man-made lake was there in the first place. Looking around, I realized we had to be on some sort of road, as the land around us was a swamp even though the dirt under our feet remained dry and hard. Glancing out to the lake again, I realized why we had come here; for in the middle of the water floated a large crate, our supplies.

"Alright, who's going swimming?" Kane asked with a disgustingly gleeful grin splattered on his face, he had obviously long forgotten all about the man we'd lost. His only concern was getting to that supply crate.

As I took in the swampy area, a feeling of dread sank deep into my gut. Why would InGen build a swamp in the middle of the island? And more importantly, what the hell was _in_ that water?

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think! The appearance of the Dilophosaurs is for Damico, who asked for them! (and yes Damico, you can name them if you'd like) :)**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**p.s. I want to try to add a little trivia after the chapters..when I remember to anyways ;)**

**Dino Trivia: A little note about the Dilophosaurus. I was researching them a bit and found out that Jurassic Park changed a few things for cinematic viewing pleasure. First, a fully grown Dilophosaurs can reach almost 10 feet tall and 20 feet long, weighing around half a ton. Also, there is no evidence they ever had a frill or spit poison. However, since this is Jurassic Park fanfic, i decided to mix realism with the movies, hence the spitting, fanned, larger version. And yes, the man's death was inspired by Nedry's demise in the book. Oh yeah, it's also believed they hunted in small packs, as several fossils have been found together.**


	27. The Swamp & The Crate

**Disclaimer: you know the drill, I don't own**

**Thanks so much to DarkFireAngel00, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, dino-SOAR, Damico, shippolove844, mysterygirl123, bayumlikedayum, and the amazing YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans, who helped me figure out how to word some parts!**

**Enjoy the chap! I'm hoping to get an update out either before or on my birthday which is coming up in a few days!**

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Kane looked expectantly between the lot of us, waiting for volunteers to brave the murky green waters and whatever creatures InGen may have put in it. His gazed lingered on me for a long second, to which I responded by pointing at my injured shoulder. I couldn't swim, not in this condition. Kane turned to Kurt, raising an eyebrow and continuing to stare at the young man until Kurt finally gave a small nod, handing off his gun to one of the other lackeys.

"Billy, what water animals did InGen have on its list?" I asked him quietly as Kane picked out the other 5 men that would assist Kurt in retrieving the crate.

"None." Billy responded, allowing some relief to course through me before dashing it down, "But the Spinosaurus wasn't on their list either."

I groaned as I hung my head, rubbing my temple. Seriously, couldn't InGen be honest with all of the shit they had been doing down here?

Raising my head, I let my eyes slowly scan the banks and the water, studying every shadow and irregularity that could possibly mean danger. There was a low rumble, along with deep throated calls that almost sounded like a fog horn. We all watched as a herd of giant beasts slowly made their way to the shore on the other side of the swamp-like lake.

"Parasaurolophus." Billy identified immediately. The lead animal lifted its head; the colorful crest sprouted from the back of its head identified it as the probable alpha. "Herbivore." He clarified for the others. Relief evidently spread through the men, though Kane still had that look of wonderment and awe on his face. Not nearly as fascinated as he had been by the Dilophosaurus though.

The Parasaurs were cautious approaching the water's edge, almost hesitant. It only served to cause my worry to worsen at what could possibly be in the water. I winced as I bit too hard on my bottom lip as I watched Kane urge the six men into the water. Scott was among them, throwing a glare Kane's way; he hadn't volunteered himself for this task.

The men only got a few steps out before the bottom dropped off, forcing them to swim the rest of the twenty yards to the floating crate. The herbivores across the lake finally breached the water's edge, taking only a few steps in before lowering their heads to drink.

I kept my eyes on the men, the bad feeling sinking deeper and deeper as I waited for the inevitable to happen. There was a loud splash and the horn-like calls of the Parasaurs echoed over each other as they scattered away from the edge. My grip on Billy's arm tightened. What just happened? And when did I grab onto him?

I shoved the useless thoughts from my mind as I watched the men continue their journey to the crate, having not noticed the temporary panic that shot through the herbivores. Quickly, I let my eyes scan the animals on the opposite shore as others tentatively neared the edge. Where had the big leader gone?

The seconds seemed to tick by in agonizing slowness. Another splash and a bellow had me looking back to the animals. One had gotten too close to the drop off and fallen into the deeper water. The big beast slowly started turning around, attempting to pull itself back to the safety of shore.

I cast a glance to the men; all six were still there and had finally reached the crate. I looked back to the Parasaurolophus, but it was gone. My breath hitched as I scanned the water, looking for any sign of it. I'd only looked away for a second; there was no way it had climbed out in that time. But the water remained deceptively empty, the dinosaur was gone.

It was almost eerily calm for a long moment. The only sounds were the men's splashing and the occasional call of a herbivore. The men were ten yards from shore, perhaps nothing was in the water and we could get out of this safely. Apparently I'd forgotten where we were.

As the men came close to the drop off point, the Parasaurs panicked. It didn't take long for me to figure out why either. A behemoth of an ancient crocodile shot out of the water, snapping its almost six foot long jaws around an unsuspecting Parasaurolophus. The animal barley had time to let out a shriek before it was pulled under. Another herbivore was pulled under the water as the animals scattered in a desperate attempt to escape. But the sheer number of animals behind them and the swamp quality of the land around them had them trapped.

Another super croc launched out of the water and onto shore, getting its massive jaws around the rear legs of one animal. Now that it was almost fully out of the water, I could see it was far more than just an overgrown crocodile. It had to be almost 40 feet long; with an enlarged nose and teeth I could see from almost 50 yards away. 'Super croc' didn't even begin to cover it. This thing could probably take on the Spinosaurus if it wanted to.

And I could do nothing but watch the slaughter taking place on the other side of the lake as the men scrambled to get ashore with the crate. No one had missed what was going on over there.

They had nearly made it; already they had come over the drop off, now they were trying to drag the crate ashore. I stood back, my injury making me useless as everyone rushed to get the crate away from the water's edge. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. There was a young dino-croc, probably only 20 feet long in the shallow water, watching us with hungry eyes.

And then he dipped under the water and disappeared from site. Shit. I could only hope he had joined the adults in the feeding frenzy on the other side. Speaking of which…

I turned away from the now empty spot the juvenile had been and looked back towards the herbivores. The pandemonium from before had calmed down, most of the herd had moved off actually and the water's surface turned only a little in the area. No doubt where the adults were feeding on their catch.

The crate was finally on dry land as the men continued to push with all their worth to try and get it away from the edge. Blaine and Kurt were pushing from behind as the others pulled by the ropes hanging from the crate. I let out a sigh of relief; the herd had distracted the crocs long enough that we didn't loose anyone.

"What the hell where those things?" Brian asked from his spot pulling the crate. Immediately all eyes turned to Billy, the only one here who could have any hope of naming the thing.

"Sarcosuchus." He received blank stares, who knew there were so many bloody species of dinosaurs? "Super Croc is what they're usually called." He explained, gaining several 'ahs' from the men, though I doubted anyone really cared what it was called as long as the damn things stayed in the water.

Carter shoved the muzzle of his rifle into the crate, using it as a crowbar to pry the thing open. I couldn't help but wince at the abuse to one of my favorite guns. Inside were several backpacks, tranquilizer guns, coils of an odd wiring, an electricity box of some sort, collapsible polls and what I hoped was food and fresh water. There were other odd trinkets but nothing worth noting or useful for survival. There was no ammunition either, and I knew for a fact the only bullets we had were the ones in the gun magazines on the guns.

I replayed the scene with the Dilophosaurs, mentally tallying each shot, including the one that had put the bullet through my shoulder. I concluded we'd used a little less than a third of our bullets, so long as none of the guns had been fired before we'd run into the others.

I tuned Kane out as he quickly started giving orders on distributing the supplies, wishing we could get a move on since that feeling of dread hadn't fully passed. This had gone too quietly, despite the feeding frenzy earlier. I turned away from the group, scanning the trees and listening for any hint that a predator was coming. But all remained quiet and still and I honestly would have preferred to hear the Compy's annoying squeaks. At least that would be _something_ other than the Kane's orders and the gentle slapping of the water against the shore.

"That's disgusting." I turned back around as the men laughed at Kurt's statement. Somehow, he'd gotten his hands and arms coated in an odd, goopy, green substance from one of the cans he'd been opening. I really had no desire to find out just what that slime was. Still grumbling to himself, Kurt made his way slowly towards the shore, stepping only slighting into the water before hunching over to try and clean the stuff off.

Surprisingly, they had been rather efficient packing up the supplies in the crate, for it now stood empty besides four tranquilizer guns that sat leaning against its side. Everything else had been packed away into the now bulky backpacks and a few gym bags. We were all tossed a backpack, which I struggled to get over my right shoulder. Loosening the shoulder strap, I snapped on the straps around my hips, letting them and my left shoulder take most of the weight. It still hurt like hell, but I didn't have much of a choice, Kane wasn't going to let me get off carrying nothing. Billy appeared ready to speak out against this but I shook my head. We didn't need to start anything, not yet.

To say I was surprised would be an understatement when a tranquilizer gun was passed to Billy, Roland, Scott and I. But after quickly checking the chamber I realized why, there were no darts in them. They were packed away in one of the many duffle bags. It didn't take us long to get ready to leave; now we were just waiting for Kurt to finish cleansing himself of the goop.

He finally stood, shaking his hands as he turned to face us, mouth opening to crack a joke of some kind. A shadow appeared behind him and in the same second the juvenile Sarcosuchus launched out of the water, snapping his jaws shut on Kurt's legs.

The man gave a startled cry of pain as his feet were ripped out from under him. Blaine launched forward, grabbing onto his brother's arms before he was pulled under. Billy and Scott rushed in, getting a hold of Blaine before he was dragged in too. It was valiant effort, but Blaine's strength was no match for the five ton animal.

It was over in just a few short seconds as the brothers were pulled apart, the overgrown croc disappearing beneath the water with Kurt still in his jaws.

He was the man that shot me, who'd left me for dead, who'd almost _killed_ me. But I couldn't feel the slightest hint of satisfaction or relief over his death as I took in Blaine's tortured expression. He lost his brother, his twin; he'd had to watch him die and hadn't been able to do a damn thing about it.

"Right, let's get a move on shall we? Before it gets another one of us." Kane stated, taking the lead and starting back into the trees. This time, it wasn't just the ones held at gunpoint that gave glares and expressions of disbelief. Several of the men looked after Kane with shock, not willing to believe they'd heard what he just said. Perhaps they were finally realizing how disposable they were to him.

His promised pay must have been damn good though, because after a long moment, they shook it off and continued after him, forcing the rest of us into moving.

"Mr. Kane? Where exactly are we going?" Carter asked after what felt like several miles. I was slightly surprised it took the men so long to finally ask, it wasn't like Kane was about to answer the likes of me anyway.

"We're going to find a good place to set up camp." He stated, taking random paths through the trees. I rolled my eyes at him; we couldn't 'set up camp'! As soon as we'd finish we'd have to move on! We couldn't afford to stay in one place for more than a night let alone the several days we were left stranded here. Setting up a camp would be a complete waste of time.

Kane continued to ignore all logic as he forced us to continue on over the uneven terrain in search of a place he deemed 'appropriate'.

Glancing back, I realized Blaine had fallen to the rear of the group, dragging his feet and hanging his head. Dropping away from Billy, I matched my steps with the grieving man, no quite sure what to say but wanting to do something.

"He regretted it." I heard him mumble almost too quietly for me to hear.

I looked up at him in surprise, raising an eyebrow in slight confusion. What was he talking about?

"He regretted it." He repeated, motioning to my injured shoulder. "I could see it in his eyes, I could _feel_ it; the regret, the pain, the goddamn fear. I can't get the image out of my head." He finally raised his head enough to look at me and I could see the wound; the scar he would carry for the rest of his life. It wasn't physical, it was deeper than that. It was the same injury that had been cut open when I lost Cooper and Nash. "When will it go away? When will I be able to close my eyes and not see that?" he was begging for a definitive answer, something concrete that would give him a semblance of peace.

"I can't answer that." I answered truthfully. "They say it gets easier over time, but that's a load of bullshit. Sometimes you can look past it, but some days," I paused as I sucked in a breath, the complete honesty of my words clawing at my insides as a wave of emotional pain swept over me. I could see them, Cooper and Nash; I could see their faces, their expressions of pain and fear in their final moments. "Some days it feels like you're reliving it all over again, like your mind is stuck on repeat and there's no way to turn it off." I trailed off, a lump forming in my throat and choking my voice out.

Sleeping was the worst, being forced to watch their deaths in disturbing clarity and unable to do anything different. They'd lessened over time, but they still came up and I still woke in a cold sweat with tears streaming down my face. It was far worse than being awake, because then you can open your eyes and see something different. Sleep itself was a nightmare when I dreamt, a nightmare I'd never be rid of for as long as I lived.

I didn't warn Blaine about the sleepless nights to come, or how he would eventually black out instead of sleep from shear exhaustion. He didn't need to hear that from me, he would find out soon enough anyways.

One life had been lost, another torn apart from the inside. And all because of the wealthy bastard in front of us who couldn't give a damn about anyone but himself.

We fell back into silence as we continued our march on. Billy eventually fell back to walk on my other side but he didn't say a word; he knew he didn't need to.

As late evening fell over the island, Kane finally found his ideal spot around a giant petrified tree. It stuck out high above the surrounding trees and I had to admit it would probably be easier to find that just a random clearing. Dropping our stuff, I let out a sigh of relief as the pressure was finally taken off of my shoulder. Lucky for us it hadn't started bleeding again. The last thing we needed was more predators drawn to us by the smell of blood.

As much as I would have rather spent the night in the safety of the trees, my injured shoulder kept me firmly grounded with everyone else. Billy seemed to have the same idea, so he pulled me over to the base of the petrified tree, hugging me close to him as we settled in for another long night. At least this way if anything came after us, we may have some chance of scaling up the tree before it got to us, provided the vines wrapped around the trunk were strong enough to support our weight. I just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

One of the men pulled the short stick for first watch as the sun finished its decent and cast us into darkness. I'd been prepared for a long, sleepless night, but as soon as I leaned my head on Billy's shoulder, I was pulled into the welcoming abyss of exhausted sleep.

It was a dreamless and undisturbed night and when I woke around dawn, I felt loads better. Even my shoulder had toned down its throbbing and I was extremely thankful to Blaine that it hadn't gotten infected. Billy looked a lot better as well; the dark bags under his eyes had greatly lightened up and I guessed he probably slept as hard as I did.

The group slowly started coming too as the sun cast its first rays over us. In the distance I could hear several loud calls of the island's inhabitants.

The peace of the morning didn't last long as after everyone had eaten-a can of beans, oh joy- Kane directed orders for us to start preparing to leave. The tranquilizer guns were loaded-though not given to any of us- and a few backpacks were loaded up while the rest of our stuff was strung up in the tree. High enough to be out of biting reach of carnivores.

"What are we doing?" I asked as soon as Kane gave the orders to move out. He stopped long enough to level an arrogant sneer in my direction.

"_You_ are following orders." And that was that.

He seemed to be following some sort of map-how he got it I have no idea- as he lead us through the trees, further and further away from our makeshift 'camp'.

A few hours later he finally stopped, pouring over the map and looking around as he tried to figure out some sort of plan. I leaned against Billy as we took a slight break, all of us wondering what the hell was going through the crazy man's mind.

Billy tensed, every muscle in his body locking up as he caught sight of something in the bushes, his eyes darting around as he took every detail. I tried to see what he had spotted but nothing looked out of the ordinary.

"What are we looking for anyway?" Carter asked Kane, shattering the silence. I couldn't help but wince as his voice; it was almost instinctual that we should remain silent right now, even though I hadn't been able to spot any threat. Billy still hadn't relaxed though, there was something, I just didn't know what.

"Velociraptors. They're the first on the list for capturing." My own body tensed at his words, this man well and truly was utterly insane. I knew he had wanted to take some of the animals off the island, but raptors? He really did have a death wish.

"We won't find them." Billy finally spoke, his muscles almost quivering at the intensity he had them clenched at. I finally caught sight of what he had seen, a slight irregularity in the foliage. My blood ran cold as my breath hitched and I was barely able to force myself to let it out. Billy didn't move his stare from the golden eye that was watching us as he finished. "Because they found us."

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**Finally! I've been waiting forever to bring the raptors back :D Please drop a review and let me know what you think!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**Dino Trivia: Sarcosuchus Imperator- Known as the 'Super Croc', the Sarcosuchus was known to grow to over 40 feet long and weight almost 10 tons. The skull of an adult Super Croc was 6 feet long, with over 75% of it the jaws. What separates it from modern crocodiles is the enlarged nose, presumably giving it an excellent sense of smell. Sarcosuchus' eyes were also further up on the skull, suggesting that when it was hunting, it would stay under the water and watch the surface. The animal never stopped growing while it was alive.**


	28. Raptor Attack

**Disclaimer: I don't own!**

**Hey! A huge thanks to the ever faithful DarkFireAngel00, shippolove844, bayumlikedayum, Damico, mysterygirl123, Random Fan and the incomparable YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans! You guys are awesome!**

**Warning: This chapter contains some swearing and gore. These are raptors after all.**

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Veloci-fucking-raptor. Lovely. Now we were all going to die slow and painful deaths as the beasts ate us alive. Well, the good news was Kane would be dead. Bad news was so would the rest of us. I really, _really_ hate this island. And Kane, since he's the dumbass that got us stuck here again in the first place.

It was as if the raptors could understand what Billy said, and understood that it would be the perfect moment for an over-the-top, dramatic entrance. They probably did, because just as the words left his mouth, five raptors leapt out of the foliage, effectively trapping us in a circle. A quick check confirmed three males and two females, plus the female Billy and I had spotted. Said raptor slowly made her way out of the bushes she had been hiding in, moving as if on a lazy stroll, like she had all the time in the world and was in no rush to go anywhere. She was in complete control, and she knew it.

It was kind of eerie actually, the way she was looking at Billy and I; not just eyeing a meal, but it was like she was _studying_ us, sizing us up, deciding the threat level. I remember the trap the raptors set with Udesky –honestly I had no idea if this was even the same pack- I knew they were smart, but this was just a little ridiculous.

Then I realized something completely fascinating and epiphany-like.

We were still alive.

They hadn't attacked us yet.

Aw, shit.

"Who stole their eggs?" I asked, perhaps a bit too loudly as the obviously Alpha female hissed at me.

No one answered me as the raptors pressed in closer, forcing us all into a tight circle. I chanced a quick glance behind me as my back bumped into another person, yup; Kane had taken up residence right in the middle. Bloody coward.

Then I realized something else that shot my fear level through the roof. The Alpha was studying _me_ and only _me_.

She stepped even closer, I couldn't move back anymore and I was practically burrowed into Billy. She thrust her nose in my face, taking huge whiffs and blowing my loose hair around my face.

One of the panicked men couldn't take it anymore and launched himself out of the circle, making a beeline for the trees, screaming as he went. He made it no more than a step into the bushes before a raptor landed on his back, digging the killing claw into his spine. He screamed bloody murder, collapsing to the ground out of sight.

It set off a chain reaction, the commotion exciting the other raptors into charging towards us. I closed my eyes, clutching onto Billy as I waited for the pain to come. I was met only with a demanding and irritated snarl. After a moment with no one screaming, I opened my eyes, spotting the other raptors slowly backing off to their original positions, thoroughly chastised by their Alpha.

Once sure none of her pack was going to go against orders, she turned her attention back to me, letting out a hiss as she bumped me with her nose. What. The. Hell.

"She's challenging you." I heard Billy murmur. What? Why? Why me out of all of the other men here? Oh. Duh.

With raptors, the Alpha was female, I happened to be the only unlucky female here. She thought I was the Alpha of this group. Well shit. "What the hell do I do?" I whispered, praying whatever it was, I didn't have to _fight_ her or anything.

"No idea, but she wants something." Was his helpful reply.

"Wonderful." I couldn't even get a hand on my knife, let alone use it properly. I was only right handed damn it!

And that's when she turned to Billy and let out a growl. Oh my Lord. This _was_ the same pack as last time. This was the raptor Billy had temporarily stolen the eggs from. And she _remembered_!

Yup, I think they were planning to torture us or something, seeing as she didn't get the chance last time.

Lady Luck must enjoy scaring the shit out of all of us before giving us another shot. Because as the raptor's killing claw had begun raising off the ground-signaling an oncoming attack-a clearly distressed call of another raptor echoed through the trees, catching all of their attention.

Whatever was said between the animals must have been crucial, as the female barked out orders, sending the pack on its way. Just as they were disappearing into the brush, Kane once again astounded me with his complete idiocy.

He shot one of the fleeing raptors.

He _shot_ her with the _tranquilizer_ gun.

He _shot_ the fucking _Alpha _with the _tranquilizer _gun!

"Trees!" Billy shouted, shoving me towards one as the pack stopped dead in their tracks at the pain cry of their Alpha. It didn't take a genius or even a glance to _hear_ the fury of the pack as they snarled, watching their Alpha collapse to the ground.

The slaughter began then. They weren't bothering to feast; they were completely intent on wiping all of us out. The men's screams behind me mixed in with the raptors' growls would forever haunt me as Billy and I scrambled up a tree.

My shoulder ached and protested but I ignored it, I would willingly suffer extra pain over staying on the ground and being killed. One of the men, Brian, I think, was climbing right next to me, only a foot lower. And with a scream he was ripped from the tree, drug to the ground where the raptors tore him apart.

My calf flared in pain as a raptor attempted to get a good hold on my leg with his jaws. Using my other foot, I bashed it into his face before he could completely clamp down. Thankfully he let go, falling back to the ground and giving me the crucial seconds I needed to get out of their jumping reach. I looked up; terrified I would look down and see Billy among the corpses. Well, they weren't corpses yet, I could still hear their screams as the raptors sadistically tortured them.

I almost cried in relief when Billy's hand appeared in front of my face, grasping onto my good arm and hauling me the rest of the way up to the platform-like branch he'd found.

I chanced only a quick look down before burying my head into Billy's chest, fighting back bile and tears. It looked like a scene from a horror movie. Blood and gore was _everywhere_, including all over the chests and legs of the raptors. It had only been a split second look, but it was enough to forever burn the image of severed limbs and disemboweled bodies into my mind.

I didn't know how many they'd gotten, I didn't know how many had made it out alive. I squeezed my eyes closed tighter, trying to block out the still whimpering and screaming men.

Billy's arms wrapped around me, rubbing what should-have-been soothing circles over my back. It did nothing to silence the noise or erase the images though. I let out a whimper as another man's screams were cut short, attempting to burrow deeper into Billy's chest.

It seemed to take years before the noise stopped, the raptors letting out chitters and calls before silence reigned. I stayed where I was, refusing to move even as my calf and shoulder ached.

I was dimly aware that I was shaking and tears had begun streaking down my face. I was crying, unable to stop the onslaught of tears at the bloodbath that should have never happened.

No matter how hard I fought to calm myself, the tears kept coming. I couldn't force myself into an emotionless work mode, I could only let myself drown in the replaying screams of man and animal as Billy attempted to calm me down.

It was difficult to say how long I stayed like that; minutes, hours, it was all sort of a blur. When I finally pulled back and lifted my head, my neck was stiff and my body ached all over.

I refused to look at Billy, wishing I had been strong enough to hold it together until we got off the island. It had finally reached the point where I could no longer deny it, this island was breaking me. I had forced myself to bend as far as I could go, but the weight of everything happening was pushing it too far. Cracks were forming and I could do nothing to stop it.

"Hey," Billy started, hooking his finger under my chin and forcing me to look at him. I don't know how he did it, but somehow he knew what was going through my mind. It unsettled me far more than I wanted to admit. "You don't always have to be the strong one."

I couldn't help but disagree, but in some way, his words made me feel not so ashamed of breaking down like I did. I gave him a weak smile as I sucked in a breath, steeling myself for the sight I knew would greet me.

I had to look again, I had to take stock of who we had lost, of the irreparable damage that had been done. The bird's eye view was worse than I thought as I forced myself to attempt to identify the bodies from up in the tree.

The first I noticed was Brian, and I could only identify him from his position at the base of the tree. His face had been torn open, a killing claw had split it from his left eyebrow to the right side of his chin. His left eye was gone and I could see from here that even his skull had been cut almost clean through. I could feel my meager breakfast creeping its way back up my throat as I took in the nearly severed right leg and missing hand.

Moving my eyes away from the carnage, I forced myself to take in the rest of the bloodbath. The next body's chest cavity had been completely ripped open, ribs snapped and scattered around in pieces. What was left of his face was in so many ragged strips I couldn't even tell his hair color. His entire right leg was lying several feet away from his body, the knee bent in the wrong direction.

There were three other bodies in similar conditions, severed limbs, skin and bone split open. It was a complete nightmare, a scene that should only be in horror movies. I don't think even a movie could fully capture the pure realness and devastation of the scene below me.

Separated from the rest of the bodies, lie two raptors. Both male with knife slashes across their necks. Peeking out from under their bodies was an old, worn hat I easily recognized. Roland.

The realization had me lurching across to the other side of the tree, leaning over the side as I threw up my breakfast. Billy was at my side in a second, rubbing my back as he held the loose strands of my hair out of my face.

He really was a Godsend, I knew I couldn't have made it this far without him, whether I'd been shot or not. He was my rock, the only thing keeping my last semblances of sanity in check.

I heaved for over five minutes before my stomach finally calmed down long enough for me to pull myself up and fall back against the tree. Billy maneuvered himself in front of me, staying silent as he looked me over, waiting. For what, I couldn't be sure.

"Roland." I finally choked out, unaware if that was even what he wanted. He just nodded, moving to sit next to me as he tugged me to him. He held me there for a long moment, not saying a word. He didn't need to. It was enough to give me the strength I desperately needed, the strength to move on, to keep fighting. To live and not let the dead drag me down with them.

He saved my life right then, and he didn't even know it. He probably never would.

My eyes burned, but no tears fell, I had none left. Instead I pulled in a few shuddering breathes as the thought kept repeating itself in my mind. Roland was dead. We'd lost one of our one. Roland was dead, gone, destroyed by the raptors.

I managed to force a shaky smile as I thought of the raptors Roland had taken with him. He was a fighter till the end and he had refused to go down alone. I swear I could hear his British accented voice saying, "No worries Miss Baker, I took two of those bloody beasts with me."

"Lexi! Billy!" Scott's voice tore me from my musings. I pulled away from Billy reluctantly, forcing myself to stand on shaky legs as I tried to find where Scott was.

"We're here!" I managed, still unable to find him among the trees. I did spot Blaine a few trees over, nursing a scratched forearm.

"Who else is out there?" Scott asked and I had a feeling he was doing a roll call. He couldn't identify all of the bodies either, if he'd even looked.

"Blaine's still here." I heard the man state, slipping down to a lower branch so everyone could see him.

"Carter still kickin'." Carter shouted from almost directly belong Blaine.

"Jack here." Jack's voice was muffled from the thick canopy of leaves. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, he had to be near the top of the tree.

"Dave here." There was only one person still alive, if my estimation was right. The raptors had killed six men in the attack, plus the one who'd panicked. Seven, we'd lost seven men today. We lost Kurt and another whose name I name I'd never learned yesterday. Nine had died since Billy and I had run into the other survivors. Already our numbers had been cut over half. We still had five days before rescue came. There really wasn't much hope for us. I just prayed that the final man alive wasn't him….anyone but him.

"I'm still alive." Damn it. Kane's cursed voice sounded through the trees, causing me to tighten my grip on the branch I was holding to the point that my nails dug into the bark.

"Damn." I heard Scott mutter much louder than he probably meant to. Then again, I don't think he cared if Kane heard or not. Even if he did, Kane chose to ignore the comment, instead he noisily made his way down the tree he was in until he was in our sights.

Somehow, he had remained completely untouched, even as the rest of us had scratches from either the raptors or the trees' rough bark. His skin was completely unblemished and it just further pissed me off. No doubt he had forced himself in front of the others to get up the tree, some of those men were probably the ones on the ground.

"Think they're gone?" Dave asked worriedly, casting nervous glances down at the ground. Though he avoided looking at the ground between us, everyone did. None of them wanted to see what was down there.

"Who knows, they've been known to set traps." I answered bitterly, finally regaining some semblance of control over my emotions.

There was a long pause before Scott asked quietly, "Where's Roland?" he knew the answer, we all did whether we wanted to admit it or not.

"He's dead." Billy answered for me, landing a hand on my shoulder as he came up next to me. "But he took two raptors with him." There was a chorus of disbelieving murmurs before several of the men could be heard heaving. They hadn't been able to resist, unconsciously they had to see it to believe it. They'd looked without thinking and now the carnage was forever burned into their minds.

"How long will we have to stay up here?" Jack asked amidst the other men's puking. Either he had a stronger stomach than the rest of us or he'd caught himself before he looked.

"No telling, if there is a trap, any attempt to get down could lead in the rest of us being killed." I stated, leaning my head against the branch I was holding as a massive headache started pounding its way through my skull.

"Any chance of getting that raptor before it wakes up?" Kane asked, his tone implying he really didn't care if it was safe or not, he wanted her, regardless of what had happened.

"No." I snapped, turning to face the direction the man was in, wishing I was over there so I could strangle him. "What the hell were you thinking? You shot the fucking Alpha! When they were already leaving!"

"I couldn't afford to lose them!" he had the audacity to defend his actions, acting as if one raptor was worth the lives of everyone. It probably was to him, he couldn't see beyond himself even in these situations, but somehow he seemed to think himself invincible. That we could all die and he would manage to survive.

"You couldn't afford it? What about them?" I asked, pointing to the ground, "They're dead because of you!" I may have not had the control I thought I did over my emotions, but this kind of outlet was something I could handle. Kane had it a long time coming, and now that his men no longer outnumbered us and all of the guns had been dropped on the ground, I was more than willing to give it to him. Now if only my shoulder didn't still throb with every move and over 20 yards of empty space separate us, I could give him what he really deserved.

"Watch it! I _own_ you. Or did you forget?" he sneered, nodding towards Billy.

The reminder of the leverage he had lorded over me had me seething all over again, before I let a dark grin slid onto my face, "In case you haven't noticed _Kane_, all of the guns are on the ground. And you don't outnumber us anymore." I admit to thoroughly enjoying the slightly panicked look that crossed over his face as he realized I spoke the truth.

"Frankly Mr. Kane, your money isn't worth my life." Jack spoke up, "Kurt was your right-hand man and you didn't even bat an eye when he was killed. You really think you're going to keep my loyalty when it's obvious I mean next to nothing to you?"

Carter agreed as Dave put in his own thoughts, "When Roland was in charge, we lost one man. You've been in charge for two days and we've lost nine. At this rate we'd all be dead by tomorrow."

For a small moment, real fear shone on Kane's face before he steeled it off. He stayed silent for once, perhaps realizing he was no longer in charge. He'd lost his hold over everyone.

The tables had turned once again. And this time, it was in our favor.

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**Thought I would give this to you guys today as a birthday gift. I'm finally 18!**

**Please drop a review and tell me what you think! NEW POLL! This one determines what I may write once this story is finished.**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**Dino Trivia: Frankly, there are so many contradicting facts about Velociraptors that it's difficult to find what is actually true. All I can really say is, they had a killing claw and hunted in packs. As to their real size...not even paleontologists agree!**


	29. Trees and Survivors

**Disclaimer: Don't own of course!**

**Yes! I'm still alive! Sorry I didn't get a chance to tell you all I was going on vacation for a week, my stupid internet modem crashed and we had to get a new one. Frankly, I don't like this chapter very much, it's kind of dull in my opinion and was a complete pain in the arse to write. Hopefully the next one will come easier! We are getting closer to the end! Oh and I finally got Jurassic Park the book, I read the whole thing in less than 12 hours :D**

**A huge shout-out to my amazing reviewers who insist on sticking with me. mysterygirl123, anonymous, Damico, bayumlikedayum, Midnight Cheesecake O.o, dino-SOAR, shippolove844, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, DarkFireAngel00 and the ever amazing YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans, you guys are amazing!**

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"So what do we do now?" Dave asked, warily watching the ground as Compies flooded the area, picking at the corpses in a feeding frenzy.

I barely managed to stop myself from shrugging, the pain in my shoulder reminding me the movement would have been excruciating. There were a number of things we could try, but at the moment I couldn't think of anything that would guarantee our survival. It was impossible to tell if the raptors were waiting to ambush whoever came down or if they had really left and responded to the cry for help.

The Alpha was still down, but I couldn't decide if we should tempt leaving now or wait. Waiting until she woke could go both ways, either she would find her pack and leave or-and most likely- she would call her pack to her and they would ceaselessly hunt us until we were all killed. Either way our chances didn't look good.

"We can't chance climbing down, not here." Billy spoke up, his voice startling me at its close proximity behind me. I could feel his breath on my neck and it was a distracting annoyance as I tried to think of some way we could get out of here.

Looking through the trees, I started mapping out some way we could all climb through them. Billy was right, we couldn't chance climbing down here, but perhaps we could get far enough away that it would be relatively safe to make it down. "Alright, we'll have to go across the branches, get far enough away where we can climb down."

The men looked less than excited at the idea of traipsing through the tree tops, but at the moment we really didn't have any other option left to us. "So which way do we go?" Jack asked, shifting just the slightest and sending a small twig twirling to the ground.

"Obviously, we head back to the camp." Kane spoke up, his narcissistic and power-hungry attitude preventing him from fully realizing he was far from command.

"No, we head away from camp actually." Billy stated, I turned to give him a questioning look. We needed the supplies that were left there if we had any hope for surviving. Then again, I may have more experience in surviving in dangerous situations, but he knew far more about the dinosaurs than I had any real desire to. "If they haven't already, the raptors will be raiding it, if they have enough members they might even set up an ambush there too."

Well isn't that just peachy? If only there was at least some way we could get the guns and the food then we could hole up somewhere until rescue came. Our chances were getting slimmer by the second. "That settles it then," I stated, "We head away from camp." Now for the hard part… figuring out which way camp was. The raptor attack had gotten me so turned around I honestly couldn't say which way we had come from.

Thankfully the tree Billy and I had found ourselves in was taller than the rest. So, taking a deep breath, I grabbed onto a thick branch above my head and heaved myself up, biting back a hiss as my shoulder flared in pain. I heard Billy heave a sigh before he was suddenly in front of my on the very branch I had just gotten myself up on. "You don't have to do everything you know." He said softly, giving me a disapproving look as I struggled to force my right arm up to the next branch.

"I have to find the tree we camped at so we know which way to go." I argued, failing to see his point as I took another deep breath when I finally latched my hand onto the next branch.

He shook his head, a slight smile making its way onto his face as he grabbed my hands and pulled them down. "You are a stubborn and bull-headed woman." His grin widened as he pulled me to him, planting a kiss on my forehead. "Now stay down here." He let go of me, and easily swung himself up into the higher branches.

I wasn't happy about it, but I stayed where I was, grudgingly admitting to myself that I really wasn't in the greatest condition for climbing up the tree. Leaning my back against the tree's thick trunk, I impatiently waited for him to come back down. He may not have actually said it, but he was right regardless; he was in far better condition to be doing the extra work. It killed me to be motionless while he was doing something though. It made me feel useless, completely and utterly useless. Until this damn island fiasco I had never felt that feeling before and I didn't like it one bit.

Restlessly, I tapped my foot, waiting for Billy to come back down. I was irritated at my lack of ability to do the simple task of easily scaling up a tree, hell I couldn't do much of anything easily at the moment.

The branches above me creaked and groaned as Billy made his way back down, he landed with a _thump_ on the branch I was on, the limb drooping down as the excess weight hit it. "Alright we need to head that way." He stated, pointing in the direction of Scott's tree and thankfully, upwind of the carnage below. The rancid smell of death was starting to permeate the air and the flies were quickly growing in number, swarming around everyone.

I followed Billy as he led the way to the thickest and longest branch of the tree, accepting the hand he held out for me as we crossed over to the next tree. I idly noticed that that kind of gesture had once been unacceptable to me; I never even took Cooper or Nash's attempts at help. Usually I would give them a dirty look before crossing on my own.

Once again, Billy had proven himself to be different than any other man I had ever met, he'd become a constant exception to every rule I had ever established for myself. I still couldn't say if that was necessarily a good thing or not.

Thankfully the trees in this area where thick and huge with several overlapping branches so making our way from tree to tree was relatively simple; well, as simple and easy as it could be with only one fully functioning arm.

"I'm not completely helpless." I stated to Billy as he held his hand out to me once again. We'd been traveling through the trees for a good fifteen minutes and he'd been helping me across every one. At the risk of sounding like a teenager, I didn't want him to see me as the weak damsel in distress.

He simply rolled his eyes, muttering something that sounded like 'bull-headed woman' before reaching out and grabbing my good arm, hoisting me across before I could even begin to protest. I didn't bother trying to refusing his offerings of help anymore, not only was the skin-to-skin contact extremely welcomed, but-and I wouldn't admit it out loud- I would probably slow the entire group down if I had to make it across on my own. The going was slow enough as we all had to cross the same branches one at a time. Even though we'd been moving at a steady pace; we could still hear the Compies chittering amongst themselves as they gorged on the remains left behind.

We were at least twenty feet up, above the heads of any predator we may come across. Normally I wasn't afraid of heights, but when I looked down to see the assortment of scavengers attracted by the smell, my stomach clenched and I found it even harder than it already was to keep moving. A fall from this height might break a bone or two, nothing fatal; but falling from up here into the growing number of animals below was a death sentence.

The whole group froze as a Tyrannosaur moved directly under us, pausing to take huge sniffs, moving his head from side to side before he moved on, following the direction of the other scavengers. A few minutes later the Rex roared and all of the other predators- with the exception of the Compies- came scurrying back. Some paused to look back, snorting and growling in outrage at their easy meal being taken from them. The rest moved off, in search of a different and less dangerous meal.

We were far enough away that the lower branches of the trees behind us blocked the sight of the attack, but we could still hear the Tyrannosaur growling and the crunching of bones as he found his prize. I closed my eyes, hoping to try and block the sound somehow. "Come on, we have to keep moving." Billy whispered in my ear, gently pulling on my hand and leading the group on.

It was hard to say just how long we spent in the trees, but the further we went, the fewer animals we saw running around below. The hours went by and as the sun started hinting towards the horizon, the trees got thinner, forcing us to move up or down to pass over to the next one. "We'll stay here for the night." Billy stated as he crossed over to the largest tree in the area. It wasn't hugely thick or tall, but it was the best we had at the moment.

"Can any dinosaurs climb trees?" Dave asked, warily looking down at the empty ground as he uncomfortably straddled a branch.

I looked to Billy, curious about the answer myself; we hadn't come across any so far, so perhaps not. He shrugged, "It's hard to say, some are suspected to have been able to climb but that isn't really something bones can tell us outright. Alan had said on the other island they had Hypsilophodontids that could be found in the trees and some of the younger raptors could get up a few branches as well."

Well wouldn't that be just lovely? Wake up to a pack of juvenile raptors sitting on the branches with us. Wonderful. "At least Hypsilophodons are herbivores, so if they show up they shouldn't be any problem." The other men still looked uneasy at the thought that anything could get up here with them, I didn't blame them. Herbivores were still dinosaurs that could attract the unwanted predators, or knock us out of the tree.

The hours of another long night passed quietly and uneventfully, no Hypsilophodons or any other animals came up into the tree with us and Kane stayed silent the entire time. It was easy to forget he was even there. I actually doubted anyone would notice if he disappeared for at least a few hours. Dawn arrived in the same quiet peace and I took a moment to relish in the tranquility it brought.

Blaine had done an amazing job patching me up and while I was nowhere near healed, the throbbing was steadily decreasing each day and no infection had set in. It was by no means professional work, I would carry a nasty scar for as long as I lived, but he'd saved my life and given me a chance to get off this island. I looked around for the man as everyone started to wake, spotting him a branch over and up. The bottom of his shirt was torn off, the strip wrapped around his forearm where he'd gotten a large scratch the previous day.

Billy was on the branch closest to me- I swear the man hadn't been further than five feet from me since I'd been shot. It wasn't near as annoying as I would have thought it had been, in fact, the realization set off an eruption of butterflies in my stomach. He may not return the full feelings, but dear God I was in love with that man and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Is it safe to climb down?" Scott asked, yawning as he stretched; he winced and I noticed that his entire left bicep was wrapped in a reddening strip of his shirt.

"It's impossible to tell for sure." Billy answered as I moved around him to get to Scott. Gently, I pulled off his makeshift bandage, cringing as I took in the injury. A raptor had bitten him- how he'd managed to get his arm out of the animal's mouth without tearing it to shreds was beyond me-but the slowly bleeding wounds were near perfect punctures of the raptor's jaws. He probably needed stitches, but it wasn't bleeding too badly and there was nothing that could be done out here. I had to settle with rewrapping his arm with the cleaner half of cloth, tugging it tight to stop the bleeding completely.

"Hello?" A muffled voice broke through the momentary quiet, shocking all of us. It had been so quiet I couldn't even tell for sure if I had heard it or not. But judging from the way everyone else had gone still, they had heard it to. Someone else was out there, somehow they had survived.

"Is anybody out there?" the voice yelled out again, the sound echoing across the near silent morning. I jumped up from my crouched position, barely steadying myself in time to avoid slipping off the branch. Billy was already several feet up and climbing. Yelling wasn't the best idea, but we had to get his attention somehow.

So I let out a piercing whistle to let him know where we were. He went quiet and for a moment I thought he had taken the sound as an animal, but then an answer whistle came in the same pitch I had given. He'd gotten the message at least, he wasn't alone anymore but he shouldn't be alerting every animal where he was.

We waited in silence until he gave another call; he was asking which way we were. I responded and it went on like that for nearly five minutes, every whistle getting louder and louder as the survivor got closer to us. Finally he broke into sight, though he wasn't looking up.

As much as we hated to do it, we stayed silent for a long moment, waiting to see if anything would attack. Nothing did thankfully. The man looked young, too young to have been working for Kane.

"Pete!" Scott stated in surprise, quickly dropping down the branches as the cabin boy startled at the sound.

"Captain!" Pete shouted in surprise as Scott jumped from the last branch and landed next to him. "It's safe guys, come on!" I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the order, why was he telling us to come down? But it wasn't us he was talking to.

I couldn't stop the grin from spreading over my face as five other men came into view towards us. There were more survivors! Maybe, just maybe, we had a chance at making it through this. Scott shook hands with two of the other men, obviously crew members of his, which meant that the other three were Kane's hired goons. I could only hope they wouldn't stick to their 'boss' now.

Slowly, I finally made my way out of the tree, almost toppling over as I landed. If Billy hadn't strung an arm around my waist in time to steady me I would have fallen back onto my ass.

"How have you made it this long?" Scott asked the group, looking as bewildered as I felt. I knew there had been a slight chance of other survivors but after this many days I had figured we would have at least heard them by now.

Pete shrugged, unsure as to the answer himself, "It took two days for me to find these guys," he started, nodding towards the other men, "We lost one to some sort of animal that night, after that we pretty much stayed up in the trees, only coming down for water and to scavenge something up to eat."

A big burly man who couldn't be less than forty nodded in agreement, "Pete thought he heard gunshots the other day and yelling yesterday. He was damned determined we would find whoever else was out here."

"You're lucky nothing else found you with all the noise you were making." Billy stated, keeping his eyes on our surroundings rather than on the new group.

He was right of course, but just because nothing had attacked them when they were shouting didn't mean they hadn't shown up to investigate the noise. "We need to move." I said to Billy, whose expertise had made him the unofficial leader of the group, especially since I was wounded.

He nodded, stepping forwards and tugging me along with him; apparently he hadn't removed his arm from around my waist. The rest of the men fell into step behind us; I could dimly hear Scott talking to his crew members and Kane attempting to speak in a hushed tone to the other new additions. I leaned against Billy slightly, choosing to not worry about what Kane might be up to, we still outnumbered him and no one had any weapons. He no longer posed a threat to us.

The early morning kept the temperature mercifully down as we continued walking. I realized that we didn't have any sort of plan unless Billy had thought of something. Then again, there wasn't much we _could_ do until Kane's 'rescue' came; all we could do was survive until the week was up. I ran the days through my mind, trying to figure out how long we had been here and how much longer we had to wait. The days seemed to blur together in areas, but as far as I could tell we had at least 5 days counting this one before rescue would come. We had been here for at least six that I could account for, if not more. I really couldn't be sure at this point.

The ground we were on gradually sloped up, cresting right on the edge of the tree line and opening into what was probably a large field. The entire group had fallen silent by now as we focused on our surroundings and keeping as quiet as possible.

Finally we reached the top of the slope, the mid-morning sun temporarily blinding us as we came out of the shade of the trees. When my eyes adjusted to the light, the scene before me took my breath away. "Wow."

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**p.s. No Dino-Trivia today, instead I urge all Glee fans to check out YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans' stories! She is an amazing writer! Also, to any and all fans of Jumper (especially Griffin), you have to read bayumlikedayum's story Jumping Currents! It's hilarious and spectacular!**


	30. The Herbivores

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jurassic Park!**

**Err...sorry guys :) I know I promised a quick update before but frankly personal problems have been getting in the way and my muse, inspiration and motivation have been sucked dry. I _will _finish this story! It just might take a little longer than I originally planned. Thanks to my faithful reviewers ****Midnight Cheesecake O.o, shippolove844, DarkFireAngel00, bayumlikedayum, Damico, Inferno sibling 2 and Cwarnic93 for sticking with me!**

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What we had walked into wasn't just an open meadow. It was a giant field acres wide and who-knew how long. Trees dotted the area in such disarray that it wasn't difficult to figure out what this was: a game trail.

But not for the smaller herbivores, no, this one was for the giants; where even the biggest predators would have to be cautious.

It was no wonder why as I took in the _hundreds_ of animals moving about in a peaceful, unhurried way. These were no lumbering giants; they were surprisingly quick as they moved about; agile and dangerous in their own way.

The easiest to spot and most noticeable were of course the towering Brachiosaurs, spread across the plain in disarray. It was fascinating to watch as one of the younger animals attempted to join an adult at a single tree, to which the larger animal responded by swinging its tail with amazing ease and speed. It cracked like a bullwhip against the juvenile's side, immediately creating a large welt on his skin and sending the youngster dashing away to find his own meal.

Triceratops taller than buses grazed on the lower plants, snorting and swinging their massive heads at each other. The hornless infants were the size of dogs and rarely strayed far from their mother's side.

Stegosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Iguanodons, Corythosaurus and even Pachycephalosaurus littered the area as well. There were other smaller herbivores but frankly I had no idea what they were called.

There was a crashing of branches and dried leaves from right next to us. We all froze, preparing to run for our lives once again. "Don't move." Billy whispered just loud enough for us all to hear. The animal that came out of the bushes was like a dinosaur version of a turtle on steroids, a giant oval shell surrounded by dangerous spikes jutting out from all sides.

The dinosaur paused momentarily, swinging its head around to look at us with each eye. It huffed a few times before moving on, it was almost like it could smell us, but it couldn't _see_ us when we didn't move. The animal moved out of the brush, its lethal clubbed tail lightly brushing against my arm as it swung back and forth in a leisurely, almost clumsy, style.

"Ankylosaurus, that club could shatter a T-rex's leg easily." Billy stated quietly as several other of the dinosaurs came out of the brush behind us, joining the rest of the herbivore herd in the wide open plain.

If InGen had settled for producing the herbivores, then Jurassic Park would have worked brilliantly. Despite all that we had already been through on this hellish island, I couldn't help but suck in a breath as I took in these amazing animals. Watching them, I really felt like I had been transported back millions of years to the age of the dinosaurs. All that was missing…ah there it is. Several Pterodactyls glided over the animals, much smaller than the aggressive Pteranodons with thinner, almost translucent wings. Yes, this was the perfect, peaceful Jurassic magic InGen had been after.

"Any chance we could hang with them?" one of the new men asked, shifting from foot to foot.

I watched the animals, forcing my awestruck gaze to turn scrutinizing. Yes they were herbivores, but even the young Brachiosaurs could easily crush is with a wayward step. Not to mention all of the other animals we'd have to watch out for. Then there was the trouble of the infants, if someone inadvertently got too close to one, the adults could go in a protective rampage. Of course there was also the major issue of what the animals would do if they saw us. Would they ignore us because of our small size? Or would they panic and stampede like they did the last time when we were running from the raptors.

Billy was looking at me, an arm wrapped securely around my waist. He knew the dinosaurs, but I knew how most animals reacted to foreign experiences. After a long moment I finally nodded, "Yeah, but we keep to the tree line on the side. Stay as far away from them as possible, the last thing we need is someone getting stepped on."

"Oh," Billy started as soon as we started walking, "And keep an eye on the trees too, that's a lot of meat out there." It went without specifications as to what he was talking about. It was the same thing I said days before when we were woken by Brachiosaurs eating out of the tree we were in; you can't find a group of herbivores without a predator somewhere nearby.

We stayed a few yards into the trees as we started our trek with the animals, Billy keeping an eye on the herbivores and me trying to ignore the warmth from his palm on my hip and watching for any hunters that could be ahead. Nothing happened as we caught up with the back of the herd and continued to move with them. It was almost like a relaxing walk through a successful park. Deceptively peaceful was what it was; at times like this one could almost forget about the many killers roaming the island.

"Ow! Damn it!" Kane's annoying voice shouted out, startling all of us and a few of the animals near us. Thankfully they didn't stampede but many of the animals were now paying close attention to the area we were in now. I turned to see just what the hell Kane was complaining about now; slightly surprised to see his ankle bleeding. "Get out of here you stupid animal!" he growled, kicking a little green dinosaur I recognized as a Compy, the obvious culprit for the bite.

I thought it odd that the little critters would attack someone who wasn't injured like that, but with the exception of the infants, we were the smallest prey around for them to go after. We kept moving, ignoring Kane's mishap as the animals finally went back to what they were doing. The chirping of the Compies became incessant as they continued to follow us, nipping at the heels of the men at the back of the group.

Kane swore several times as he stumbled on his bitten ankle, the flesh swelling and turning a nasty purple. "We have to stop." He ordered as he tripped for the umpteenth time.

The newer men stopped with him, "We keep moving." I stated, the rest of us continued walking, leaving Kane muttering curses behind us.

"Hey!" One of the men shouted after us, making a nearby Triceratops jerk his brightly colored head up, snorting and brandishing his massive horns threateningly. The giant animal charged a step, stabbing one of his horns through a thin tree like a knife through butter. He snorted several times, finally managing to free his horn before he turned to rejoin the herd.

"Are you trying to get us all killed?" I hissed, making sure to keep my voice down as much as possible. Honestly it was like some people never learned anything!

"We can't keep going! We have to stop so Mr. Kane can get his energy back!" The man seemed equally furious and confused that Jack, Carter and Dave were doing nothing to help their employer.

"We stop, we die. If you want to stay with him, it's your funeral." Scott growled to him, casting Kane a disgusted look before turning on his heel and moving on again. No one bothered to add anything to that, so the rest of us turned and followed the Captain's lead.

It had been foolish, but I had honestly hoped Kane would stay back to 'nurse' his injury. Unfortunately for all of us, the Compies came within a foot of Kane and he'd jumped up and caught up with us. Amazing how fast he could move when just moments ago he couldn't walk properly. He stayed quiet about his pain after that, keeping to the back of the group. At least he was slightly capable of learning something.

The further we went, the more uneasy I felt; the hours had passed and we had yet to see or hear of any predators. We may have gotten lucky but frankly I knew Mother Nature enough to know that predators didn't take a day off. Even if these animals required the biggest carnivores to take them down, we should have at least seen one by now.

My nerves were finally given a rest when a towering Spinosaurus burst from the trees on the other side of the game trail, sinking its jaws into the neck of a Parasaurolophus. It was able to give one startled moan before going silent. The rest of the herd went into a panic, filling the air with their panicked calls as they started to stampede far away from the predator.

Other animals saw this as the perfect moment to attack, another Spinosaur caught a young Triceratops by its back, tossing it a few yards and sending the poor beast rolling. The second its tender belly was exposed it was over for the animal. Two Carnotaurs snatched a pair of Iguanodons that had run too close to the thick tree line; even a Tyrannosaur caught himself a juvenile Stegosaur, his powerful jaws easily breaking through the thin back plates.

The Compies immediately left us to wait for a chance at the fresh kills; this was why they had come out here in the first place. They knew this was a killing ground and animals as small as them could be easily overlooked by the feeding predators.

We weren't in the clear yet, as some of the herbivores moved in our direction. They were stampeding and we were in their direct path. "Move!" Billy shouted, there was no point in keeping quiet now.

There was no possible way we could outrun the animals, so we had to dive further into the trees. Three adult Triceratops crashed through the trees, snapping the smaller ones in half. Jack couldn't get out of the way in time, the male swung his head, catching his horn against Jack's body and flinging him off to the side.

Billy pulled me down, rolling us both down into a ditch as the dinosaurs trampled the ground we had just been on. It wasn't the most graceful roll and I landed on top of him at the bottom, temporarily knocking the wind out of us both.

"You know, I'm getting tired of these near-death experiences." I commented, letting my head fall against his chest as I tried to get my breathing back under control.

Billy let out a laugh and I could_ hear_ the cheeky grin he had on his face when he spoke, "And here I thought you were craving adventure."

"Smartass." I muttered, gaining another laugh from him as I pushed myself off of his chest.

With a groan, I hauled myself to my feet, climbing up out of the ditch and looking around. The last of the herbivores were disappearing down the trail and into the trees while the carnivores remained at their kills, occasionally growling a warning to each other. As long as they all had something to eat, there would be peace; but the second a carcass was finished, the others better watch out.

"Jack's dead." Scott stated as he came up next to me, "Broke his neck." I nodded, grimacing as I rubbed my face. I knew it would happen, especially since our numbers had grown again. It didn't make it any less difficult to deal with, especially since the man had changed his loyalties in hopes of surviving longer.

I couldn't dwell on it now, just like I couldn't dwell on Cooper or Nash the first time here. There were still thirteen other lives including my own at stake, no one was safe until we were off this island.

"Where are we even going?" Pete asked as he pulled himself out of the ditch. "Scott said rescue was going to pick us up at the compound. Why aren't we heading back there?"

Several of the other men turned to look at me, the same question written on their faces as well. "One, there was too much blood around the building," several glares were shot Kane's way, "If we stayed we would have been overrun by predators. Two, it was Dilophosaurus territory, they know how to get through the doors, they would have had us trapped in no time. Rescue would come but we'd have no way of getting out."

"So what are we doing?"

"Surviving." I muttered, rolling my good shoulder and wishing I could just sink into a hot bath and not come up. "We need the supplies back at camp, but we're not exactly prepared for another raptor encounter." It would be too dangerous to go back for the guns, not this soon where the scent would still bring in the occasional predators.

"You think the raptors will come after us again?" Carter asked, nervously looking around as if expecting an attack at any second.

"Yes." It was unquestionable, with the amount of predators that showed up and the tranquilizer dose in the darts, there was no way the Alpha made it out of there. She was knocked-out, vulnerable, if the Rex didn't see her than the other scavengers certainly did. Kane had killed the raptor's Alpha, from the relentlessness they pursued us with when Billy stole two eggs, there was no doubt in my mind that they wouldn't come after us again if given the chance.

"So…how do we get our supplies?" Pete asked, casting Scott a look that suggested he didn't even know we had supplies at one point.

I sighed, rubbing my temple as another headache threatened to start pounding away. Honestly, I had no idea, there wasn't a plan I could think of that ensured no raptor contact. This was all one lethal, never-ending nightmare.

I was beyond ready to wake up.

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**Sorry it's on the short side, please leave a review anyway and perhaps give my muse a little inspiration!**

**I guess this is kind of going on hold but not officially, I will continue to write and work on it but I can't promise when these personal issues will be resolved and when I will next be able to update. Hopefully soon.**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**Dino Trivia: Paleontologists are currently discussing the possibility that Triceratops _never existed!_ They believe that Triceratops was actually a juvenile Torosaurus; which had a much larger neck frill and horns at a slightly different angle. Of course, until dinosaur cloning actually works we can never know for sure. Perhaps we're better off not knowing, eh?**

**p.s. Don't forget to vote in the new poll! More options added!**


	31. A Reason to Live

**Disclaimer: I don't own!**

**A huge thank you to my faithful reviewers! DarkFireAngel00, shippolove844, Damico, mysterygirl123, Midnight Cheesecake O.o, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx and bayumlikedayum: I couldn't do this without your continued support! This chapter is done in special dedication to bayumlikedayum, whose last review gave me the idea/inspiration for this chap and I wish you a very happy birthday and many more to come! Also special thanks to YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans for helping through the scene!**

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Unfortunately I couldn't wake up from this nightmare, it was a reality that refused to end and I was stuck in the middle of it, fighting to stay alive.

I still couldn't get the perfect plan figured out for how we would make it back to the camp, but luckily for me Billy took charge and led us away from the game trail, keeping a supportive arm around my waist as I attempted to plan. I really felt the exhaustion less than twenty minutes later, I couldn't keep my fuzzy thoughts straight and I stumbled seemingly every other step.

Billy tried to stop, "Keep going." I muttered, wrapping my good arm around his waist and knotting my hand into his shirt to steady myself.

"You need to rest. This place is as good as any for camp." He argued.

I shook my head, the movement sparking a pounding in my skull and a wave of dizziness to washing over me. "Too close to the trail, don't waste the daylight. _Keep going._" The words were hard to force out, every small movement seeming to require every energy reserve I had. My shoulder restarting its throbbing and all I wanted to do was drop to the ground and sleep for days. But I wasn't about to cause the whole group to waste the remaining daylight we had, I would be no better than Kane if I did.

"You're going to kill yourself if you keep this up." He muttered, but kept going like I had told him. I didn't have the energy to respond, so I focused only on putting one foot in front of the other. Honestly I had lied about still being too close to the game trail, we had covered enough ground to be as safe as we could get, but I knew it was the only way to keep Billy moving. We still had almost an hour of daylight left; I couldn't let us stop now.

I tried to keep my weight off of Billy; he had to be as tired as I was. But the further we went, the harder it was for me to keep moving. He noticed, how could he not? I was barely keeping up with the pace he had set even though he had slowed considerably for me. His arm around me tightened, tugging me closer to him and forcing me to lean on him slightly. I didn't fight back, and whether the added weight bothered him or not, he didn't say a word.

As the sun neared the horizon, Billy announced we'd make camp here. The trees were brittle and thin, we would be sleeping on the ground. Not that it mattered much to me at the moment, I wouldn't have been able to get myself up a tree anyway.

I let myself drop down to the ground at the base of one of the trees, wearily pulling my pack off and using it as a makeshift pillow. Most of the others were still settling down, a few idle conversations floating softly on the air. I didn't care, there were barely seconds between lying my head down and the voices fading away as blessed sleep took me.

It was restless and I seemed to be stuck tossing and turning in the realm between nightmares and dreamless deep sleep. But then a peaceful warmth wrapped itself around me and I finally stilled, falling into a coma-like sleep.

Only a few hours later I jerked awake, the remnants of whatever dream or sound that had woken me disappearing from memory. And no matter how desperately I tried, there was no going back to sleep. Somehow, in the little time I had actually slept, my body had tricked itself into feeling like it had all the energy it needed. I was wide awake and dawn was still hours away.

With a heavy sigh, I turned my head, pressing my cheek to the 'pillow' and resigning myself to listening to the sounds of the island until morning.

It was relatively silent, with only a few low-timber and deep throated calls echoing through the dark. It seemed the predators weren't hunting at this time and the night would be peaceful. But there was another sound, a thumping on the edges of my hearing that was too quiet and rhythmic to be the footsteps of some large animal.

It was then I realized that not only was my pillow much more comfortable than I had remembered it being, but it was _moving_. Rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm, that matched with the thumping was extraordinarily soothing. It didn't take a genius to figure out I was half lying on someone's chest, the steady thumping their heartbeat.

Taking a deep breath I could pick up the scent-even through the smells of dirt, sweat, blood and tree sap-I could recognize the distinctive masculine scent of Billy. Somehow I had exchanged my pack pillow for his chest in my sleep and _somehow_ his arms had wrapped securely around me. A feeling that, even in this deadly place, gave me a sense of comfort and protection I had never known before.

Slowly twisting my head, I could make out the outline of my pack several feet away and I had the suspicion that my current position wasn't something _I_ had done in my sleep. A soft smile graced my lips as I looked up at the sleeping man's face.

At first I had thought him nothing but another attractive face that would join the nameless others I had come across in my travels and forgotten about. But then there was the plane crash and in those few short days something changed. He wasn't a nameless face anymore, he meant something to me; even if I hadn't been able to determine just what. It wasn't just the reminders of the first trip that he brought up that had made me unwilling to think of him afterwards. That was a pain that would forever be there, but it was something I could learn to manage, to lessen. There had been another pain then, strengthened when I saw him at the cemetery, less noticeable than the other, but it cut deeper than I had ever felt before.

It was heartbreak, because I knew we would never work, never last. It hadn't been love, not then, but there was an attraction far beyond physically, something that pulled me to him despite all the protests my brain had given.

And as I took in his face in the moonlight, I realized that he had done irreparable damage to my heart and soul. No matter what happened after we got off this island-_if_ we got off this island-I would never be the same person again, I could never go back to the way things were those long months ago. I could try all I wanted, but I had changed in one of the most dramatic ways a person could. I, against all of my better judgment and promises to myself, had fallen in love with a man I should have never met.

It was almost ironic how much I cursed InGen and their creations, yet without them Eric Kirby would have never been stranded on this island, and I would have continued on with my life without ever hearing of Billy Brennan. I would have gone through life day by day, protecting tourists and being blissfully unaware of the man capable of stealing my heart. I would have survived, but I don't think I would have ever found a reason to _live._

So I really had InGen to thank, because I didn't _want_ to go back to the way things were, I didn't _want_ things to return to normal. I had done the one thing I swore to never do, and I was perfectly fine with it.

Billy's breathing changed rhythm as he woke up, his eyes immediately finding mine and a slight frown crossing over his face. "Are you alright?" he whispered, his voice husky from sleep and I couldn't help my smile widening. Oh yes, I was completely and irrevocably in love with him.

I didn't know if I could ever get the words out, but at that point it didn't matter to me, I could always show him. Propping myself up, I scooted up until my face was directly above his. He cocked an eyebrow, obviously wondering what I was doing, but the small smirk fighting its way onto his lips proved he had an idea.

I decided his lips had a much more useful purpose than smirking and closed the distance between us.

He responded immediately, his hands sliding up my back and igniting a fire in my blood. I could feel him hesitating, holding back, he wasn't sure what I wanted or how to go about it. That had to change.

Nipping his bottom lip, he gave a soft moan as I demanded entrance to his mouth, to which he easily complied. He let me have control as our tongues danced together, his hands freeing my hair from its ponytail and running through it.

I had kissed men before, but it had never been anything like this. I didn't even know you could feel this much pleasure and excitement from a simple kiss.

We pulled apart slightly for breath, panting at the lack of oxygen but not really giving a damn. "Wow." He stated, his voice huskier and thicker than it had been before. Just the sound sent shock waves down my spine and I decided that if he could talk then he had gotten his breath back.

I moved back in and he met me halfway, no hesitation in his movements this time. His hands moved to my upper arms, gently holding them before his grip tightened slightly. It was all the warning I had before he flipped us, pinning me under him as he took control and ravaged my mouth in a way that had me moaning and wishing it would never end.

The knife pinched painfully on my leg, so I pulled it out of the sheath and tossed it away mindlessly, moving my hands to run through Billy's short hair as his lips moved from mine to my neck. A whole new sort of fire sparked across my skin wherever his lips touched.

"Not that it's not about damn time, but I could do without waking up to it." Scott's voice muttered in the darkness, successfully breaking us apart. I couldn't keep the grin off my face or stop the small laugh at the captain.

"So turn the other way and don't wake up to it." Billy stated, moving down to kiss me again.

I happily obliged another kiss as Scott gave an "Ugh!" before tossing a pinecone at Billy. "Dawn will be in a couple of hours, save the kissing for when I'm _not_ trying to sleep."

Reluctantly I pushed Billy back as Scott flipped around the opposite way, muttering under his breath. "He has a point, we should try to get some more sleep."

Billy unhappily dropped back to the ground, rolling onto his back and even in the bad lighting, I could see the pout on his face. It made my grin widen as I moved next to him, planting a soft, innocent kiss to his lips and pulling away before he had the chance to try and deepen it.

"Tease." He muttered, giving me a mock glare. It didn't last as I gave him one last peck before settling down against him, resting my head back onto his chest as his arms wrapped securely around me.

"You love it." I whispered, the sleep that had so eluded me earlier quickly bringing me back into its folds. Billy said something in response quietly, but I had already drifted too far to understand what it was.

It was the best sleep I'd had in months.

As the sun breached the horizon and I awoke still wrapped in Billy's arms, I felt so peaceful and relaxed that I just _knew_ this day would be a good one. There was no way something that started so good could go wrong.

As I moved to get up, Billy's arms around me tightened, pinning me to his chest. "Billy," I drawled, "I have to get up, it's morning."

He seemed to take this a very serious request as he let out a 'Hmmm,' before cracking a smile and constricting his hold, "I think I'll have to demand payment for relinquishing hold of such a beauty."

Despite rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of his statement, I couldn't stop the blush from spreading over my cheeks. "And if I refuse payment?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and idly running my finger over his chest. His sharp intake of breath alerted me that it had done exactly as I wanted.

"Then it's going to be a long day." He muttered, the deep husk returning to his voice as I continued to move my finger down over his abs before moving back up to his chest, drawing invisible patterns on the way.

"I guess I'll just have to…" I trailed off as I moved closer to him, our lips a hair's breadth apart, "pay." I finished, lightly brushing my lips against his. His arms automatically relaxed and I took the opportunity to roll away and out of his grasp before he knew what happened. He groaned as he realized what I had done, slowly hoisting himself to his feet as I stepped out of his reach, searching for the knife and hair band that had been so carelessly tossed aside last night.

Despite it being black, it didn't take me long to find the band and toss my hair back into the out-of-the-way ponytail it had been. The knife proved to be more elusive. I didn't think I had thrown it that far but I couldn't find it anywhere. Someone had to have picked it up but when I mentioned it to Scott he said he'd been the second up-after Kane's man, Travis- and hadn't seen it.

I couldn't understand it, knives don't just grow legs and wonder off. And that had been one of our only weapons, the largest knife out of everyone and now it had just disappeared. As much as I wanted to, it wasn't something I could dwell on or spend much time looking for. And idea had hit me on how to get back to the camp and now we had a plan, well…half a plan.

"So, why did those raptors come after us in the first place?" Blaine asked as we reloaded our packs onto our backs, "I was thinking, animals don't go after large groups of people like that unless they're protecting something." The look on his face said that if that was the case, he'd willingly cross to the other side of the island to stay as far away from the **area** as possible.

"Had we gotten near their nest?" Kane asked, fiddling with something in the pack Travis had been carrying.

Billy and I shared a look before I shook my head, "No, we found their nest last time by accident and it wasn't near there."

"Oh?" Kane started again, looking far too interested for my taste, "What if there is more than one pack?"

"There might be, but that was the same one alright, she recognized us. They, weren't too happy people had been around their eggs last time." I stated, leaving out the bit that we had _stolen_ a few eggs, to which Billy sent me a grateful smile. It no longer mattered, the fact was the raptors would be after us if given the chance and they probably would be no matter what.

"Well, let's get going, with any luck we can get back to the camp, get our supplies and get the hell out of there before anything knows we're there." I ordered, slinging my backpack onto my good shoulder and turning to head towards the rising sun. I had talked to Scott and Blaine about which directions we had been going and where camp was from here; thankfully they hadn't been too exhausted to pay attention like Billy and I had been and now my half a plan was three-quarters of a plan.

Yes, despite the knife going missing and Kane opening his mouth, the morning had been good, and the day would have to follow that example.

I could hope anyway.

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**Please drop a review and let me know what you think! I know it's still on the short side and not a whole lot happened, but I know a few of you believe that kiss is long overdue! :)**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**Dino Trivia: Spinosaurus has been named the largest land carnivore of the dinosaurs and is being speculated as both a fish and land hunter. Unfortunately the bones of the Spinosaurus were destroyed in the World War II bombings and currently a full skeleton has never been found (hence the arguments against naming him the largest)**


	32. The Nest Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own! You should know this by now!**

**A huge thanks to my oh-so-faithful reviewers bayumlikedayum, shippolove844, Damico, DarkFireAngel00, YouHadMeAtSkinTightJeans and xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx. You guys are too awesome for words and you have no idea how much your continued support means to me! You make completing this story worth it!**

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You know that sinking feeling you get in your gut when something is about to go horribly wrong? That feeling that puts every nerve on edge and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, it was a warning that had saved my life before. I knew to heed that warning and keep my eyes open. Looking back, I really should have kept my ears open as well.

This feeling wasn't something new, I'd been having it the entire time we were on this damn island, so I didn't give it anymore thought than I had been. I figured some dinosaur was about to cross our path and we would have to act accordingly. If it was an herbivore, we would have to be careful; if it was a carnivore, well, we'd probably lose someone else to this place. As much as I hated the thought, it was the reality of being here. It would be impossible to _not_ lose anyone here.

In the back of my mind there had been a nagging voice telling me to watch out for Kane, to keep an eye on what he was doing at all times. Foolishly I had told that voice to stuff it, we outnumbered Kane and his new men and they had no weapons, no guns to hold to our heads. They were harmless. Looking back I really should have tied Kane up and left the bastard somewhere, preferably with the Compies. It would have saved us a lot of trouble, and probably some lives as well.

I supposed I should go back to when this started and explain just how we had gotten ourselves into _another_ bad situation. Despite losing my knife sometime in the night, I was confident today would go as well as it could. We would find our camp, get the supplies we needed and then find a way to get rescue to land in a different place. Yes, today was extremely promising and it could have gone just like I had planned, if only Kane wasn't there.

"So where is the nest?" Travis asked from beside Kane, looking like he was nervous we would accidently stumbled across it. We had been walking for almost an hour, it was almost time for us to change direction and come around to the camp. It wouldn't be long now and we would be there.

I looked to Billy, not sure if either of us could pinpoint its exact location compared to where we were now. "Hard to say for sure, I'd guess north of here, in the wetter part of the island. No worries, we're far from it."

While Billy had spoken, I let myself get distracted by his lips and memories of last night flooded my mind. My God, that man could _kiss_. This was the problem of falling in love; it makes you blind to all else happening around you.

So it really was no wonder I didn't hear and sense the person coming up behind me. Billy had turned back to face the way we were going and by the time Scott looked over and noticed it was too late.

White hot, blinding pain shot from my shoulder and immediately my legs buckled, sending me crashing to the ground as I gasped, attempting to regain the breath that had been knocked from me. My shoulder throbbed, feeling like a thousand needles were piercing the skin and digging into every nerve. I was dimly aware of the hand releasing the shoulder it had just squeezed mercilessly. I couldn't see straight as the hand wrapped itself into my ponytail and yanked my head back.

As the pain in my shoulder subsided, I finally felt the cool, sharp edge of a _very_ familiar hunting knife against my neck. "We're going to the nest." Kane's voice said from above me, my vision finally straightening out in time for me to see Billy turn, an irritated look on his face as he prepared himself to tell Kane where to shove his plan.

He froze when he took in the predicament I had found myself in, his expression changing from annoyed to furious. Scott and Blaine looked equally murderous and I was ready to turn around the kill the man myself with my bare hands. But he had some smarts, he'd known I would have done exactly that, so he had squeezed my injured shoulder and left me immobile. Every movement shot another spike of pain through my body. I was helpless, with a madman holding a knife to my throat.

I _really_ hate this island and I _really _hate that man.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Billy snapped, taking a threatening step closer.

The pressure on the knife increased, the edge digging into my skin and causing me to hiss, Billy froze in his place, the glare only strengthening. "We go to the raptor nest. I lost my animal; I won't leave here with nothing."

"You won't leave with your life if you keep this up." I growled, sucking in a breath as the knife pressed harder, slightly cutting my skin.

"Shut up!" Kane shouted at me, yanking my head back even more, "Get a move on Mr. Brennan! Take us to the raptor nest!"

Billy opened his mouth to say something else but Kane only pulled more on my head, he snapped his mouth shut, giving me a worried and apologetic glance before turning on his heel and leading the group north. Scott and Blaine didn't move until Kane gave them both a pointed look. Scott's crewmen looked slightly confused and worried, having no idea what kind of insanity Kane had already done.

Only after everyone had started moving again did Travis come over, binding my hands and forcibly hauling me to my feet. The man had at least a hundred pounds and half a foot on me, there was no way I could fight back against him. He took over the knife from Kane, holding it against my neck as he shoved me forward. I couldn't stop the slight whimper from escaping as the sharp edge cut into my throat, a small trickle of blood running down my neck.

It didn't really matter that Travis had a knife to my neck though, because as soon as we came close to the nest, we'd all be killed in the same brutal fashion the others had been. We didn't stand a chance. Kane- in his desperate madness- was forcing us all to our deaths.

If only the Compies had done more than just bite his ankle.

Unfortunately for us, nothing popped out of the bushes and devoured Kane or Travis and we were left wondering through the jungle, hoping we were going the right way. Since Billy and I were the only ones still alive that had been to this island before, and I was currently unable to speak, it was up to Billy to try and find a recognizable place that would point us in the right direction.

There was always the question of _if_ we could find it again. There had been quite a bit of running for our lives with no certain destination in mind the last time, it was impossible to say if either of us _could _find it again.

Billy kept moving on and I wondered if he actually knew where he was going. It was possible he had as much a clue as I did but was acting like he knew to stall and gain time for one of us to think of a plan.

I had a multiple plans for a million different scenarios, but being stranded on an island of dinosaurs with a bullet wound and being held at knife-point wasn't something I was prepared for.

Surprisingly, as time passed, it seemed Billy was either ridiculously lucky or he actually knew where we were, because eventually the terrain turned vaguely familiar. Granted a majority of the island looked the same and there were no discerning landmarks, but I had the sense of déjà vu walking through these thicker trees.

It didn't take long to figure out just why this looked familiar. The last time I had been here I'd been running for my life from a hungry Spinosaurus, and the evidence was still lying across the ground ahead of us.

The tree that had been smashed to the ground was flattened in several places but it was forgotten as soon as the massive skeleton came into view. Many of the bones had been scattered around but the huge skull left no doubt of what it was, the tyrannosaur that had lost the fight with the sailed predator. We were in familiar territory now.

I grimaced as Travis stumbled over a piece of bone behind me, the knife dipping lower and nicking my skin just below my collar bone. As we approached the skull, a plan started forming in my mind. It wasn't much and it was by no-means foolproof, but at the moment it was all I had.

As I neared the skull, I braced myself for what was sure to hurt like hell. Travis was too preoccupied looking around to notice as I slipped my bound hands up in between the knife and my neck. The tooth-filled skull was only a foot from me now, it was now or never. I tripped.

I went crashing to the ground, the knife slicing through my left hand as I fell. Flinging my hands forward to brace myself, they slipped off the side of the skull, sliding right into the mouth. The sound caught the entire groups' attention, Billy stopped and started my way but Travis quickly-and painfully-hauled me to my feet before he could reach me.

Kane lost interest almost immediately and I was able to catch Billy's attention without anyone else noticing. I looked down, brushing my hands off on the pocket of my pants. "What are you doing?" Travis snapped, the damn knife pressing against my neck as he lightly squeezed my injured shoulder in warning.

"Attempting to find something to wrap my hand with, you great oaf." I growled, holding up my bloodied hand as proof, "Ease off with the knife already, before you trip and slice my neck open!" I kept my eyes locked with Billy's, attempting to tell him I had a plan and to keep going. Judging from the way his jaw clenched, he got the message, and he already didn't like it.

Well, he _really_ wasn't going to like the rest of this plan. _I _didn't even like it that much, but it was all I had. Unfortunately it also required that we find the raptor nest.

The weight in my pocket seemed more noticeable than it should have been, and for a moment I worried someone would notice the shape. As Travis stumbled _again_, I realized he was far too preoccupied watching his footing to notice what I was doing.

I was honestly surprised he said nothing about my hand being injured, I had expected him to notice my neck should have been the thing sliced up. But my guess of him being rather oblivious was thankfully spot-on. We moved off again, Travis being more aggressive that he had before. Perhaps he was a true Kane-minion, heartless, just like the rich bastard. But there was always that slight chance he had an ounce of self-preservation, so after a short while, I attempted to talk to him.

"You don't have to do this you know. He doesn't care about you, he won't bat an eye if you're eaten. He didn't for his right hand man, you're nothing to him; disposable, just like the rest of us." I said quietly, trying to keep my voice soft, to reason with him somehow.

"Shut up." He snapped, shoving me forward harshly. So much for reasoning with him, it was like talking to…well….a mindless henchman.

It didn't take long for hunks of twisted metal to start coming into view, it was the plane, well, what was left of it. The seats still in relatively one piece were covered in mold and the debris was more spread out than it had been before. As everyone looked around at the wreckage, I took the chance to dip my hands back into my pocket, pulling out the object I had picked up without anyone noticing. It was a tooth from the Tyrannosaur, three inches long and serrated along the edges. Hopefully sharp enough to make my plan work.

There wasn't much time left, we had maybe twenty minutes before we reached where Ben had been strung up in the tree with the parachute and the nest was close to it. I chanced a glance down at my hands, the tight rope had already rubbed my skin raw, but with any luck, they wouldn't be a problem soon. Carefully, keeping the tooth out of sight of everyone, I started sawing at the rope, keeping my head up and looking around to avoid suspicion.

Scott glanced over at me, looking down at my hands for a brief moment before he turned away, a small smile gracing his face as he gave a slight nod. He stretched his arms out in front of them, turning his hands in towards him before his shoulders cracked and he dropped his arms with a sigh. Taking his cue, I turned my own hands in further, hiding the tooth even more. Scott gave another brief nod before moving up to walk alongside Billy.

"No talking up there!" Kane snapped as soon as Scott opened his mouth. The Captain rolled his eyes, sending a disgusted look Kane's way before dropping back a foot or so. I had to give Kane some credit for thinking of what others could do, but not much. He smirked back at me, completely missing Scott quickly saying something to Billy before falling back into step with Blaine and speaking to him quietly and near imperceptibly.

Yes, Kane had thought of some potential problems, but he made the mistake of underestimating all of us. He believed we would be so petrified of him that we would blindly follow his orders. No, he wasn't very smart, but unfortunately he knew how to pick some of his followers and how to exploit our weaknesses.

Too soon we passed by Ben's remains, the bones picked clean and the stench gone. Ah-ha! I finally felt the relief as the rope broke, keeping the tooth in my hand and tugging the rope loose, I left it on. Neither Kane nor Travis suspected a thing.

I couldn't help but hold my breath the closer we got to the nest and I knew Billy was doing the same. The others may have picked up on his more cautious stride, but they didn't know just how close we were. In just seconds Billy would breach the grass line and we would be there. And unless we had some unnatural luck coming our way, we had only seconds to live.

Billy stopped walking and we all filed in behind him, coming to a stop as well. We both stared in shock at the nests, wondering what the hell was going on. They were empty, crushed and almost completely gone. The raptors had abandon the nest and taken every trace of their being there with them.

"Why did you stop? Keep moving! I want to reach the nest _today._" Kane snapped, oblivious to what he was standing on.

"It's right here." Billy stated quietly, the shock still evident on his face. Several of the men sucked in a breath as they stiffened up, looking wildly around and waiting for an attack. But nothing happened, the nests were nonexistent and no animals burst from the brush.

"What is this, some kind of trick?" Kane growled, stomping over and ripping the knife from Travis' hands and taking his place behind me. Raptors or not there was still _some_ chance this harebrained plan could work.

"No trick, this is…_was_ the nest. It was right here last time." Billy stated, slowly his shocked expression changed to understanding, "The eggs."

I raised an eyebrow, he'd said it straight to me, trying to convey some message that I wasn't getting. There were no eggs in the ruined nests and only a few broken pieces of shells littered the ground. "The _eggs_." Billy stated again, making a slight motion toward his pant pockets. The eggs! The two raptor eggs Billy had stolen the last time! Of course! Now it made perfect sense.

We had come through here last time, leaving our scent behind and taking two of the eggs. The raptors' nest was compromised, we knew where it was and the animals knew that. They'd moved it as soon as they'd gotten their eggs back. They'd abandon this nest permanently because we'd accidently stumbled across it last time. There was no telling where it was now. Probably better hidden than this one had been.

"They moved the nest." I said, letting Billy know I caught on to what he was telling me.

"So where is it now?" Kane snapped, irritated his plans weren't going as well as he'd wanted them to.

Billy shrugged, "Impossible to tell, they could have completely changed territory boundaries. The nest is gone and there is no way we'll ever be able to find it."

Kane wasn't happy hearing that, though I honestly don't know how he could expect to hear any different. Did he really believe we could find the new nest? This may be an island, but it was bloody huge, finding a single raptor nest could take days if not _weeks_.

"You have to find it!" I looked to Billy worriedly, Kane's desperation was getting worse and I was terrified he might slice my neck open at any second for no reason.

"We can't! It's not possible!" I hated seeing that look on his face, he was just as scared as I was. Kane had completely lost his mind and there was no telling how many casualties he would take with him. I had to act soon, or I may never get the chance. If only he wasn't holding the knife so damn close to my throat!

"I'm not leaving here with nothing!" There it was! His focus stayed on Billy and he let the knife dip. I didn't let myself think about what I was about to do, I _couldn't_, or I might not keep the courage to do it.

"Then take this!" I growled, pulling my hands free from the rope and latching onto his wrist. With a quick twist, there was a sickening _crack_ as the bones ground together and snapped. In the same instant, I twisted my body around, plunging the Tyrannosaur tooth into his side with my free hand.

The knife dropped harmlessly to the ground as Kane let out an unearthly yowl, collapsing as blood seeped around the edges of the tooth. I dove for the knife, scooping it up and turning just as Travis tackled me.

Chaos broke out among the group as he landed on me and my head struck a particularly hard tree root. Pain exploded in all portions of my body and black spots clouded my vision as I struggled to hang onto consciousness. No matter how hard I fought, the overwhelming darkness continued to engulf me until I could hold on no more, dropping into the world of pain free unconsciousness.

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**Is Kane fatally wounded? What will Kane's men do? Please drop a review and let me know what you think! I would also like to ask: who would like to see Billy's POV in the next chapter?**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**Trivia: Not history related, but I just finished The Lost World (book) and am pleased to announce there really was a swamp on Crichton's Isla Sorna! Those characters just never went to it. :D**

**IMPORTANT: I'm starting college on Monday and looking for work so my writing time is going to be severely shortened :( I will try to update before classes start if enough readers want me to! I can make this promise, many of you will enjoy what's coming. ;)**


	33. Kane and the Camp

**Disclaimer: Ya know the drill, I don't own**

**Wow, I feel like such a smuck for leaving you guys hanging for so long. Between being sick, college and this new puppy, it's been just a little crazy here. Hope you guys still like me enough to stick with this story!**

**This chapter is firstly dedicated to bayumlikedayum, for sticking with me and encouraging me to finish this chapter! This chap is also for the wonderful reviewers of the last chap: Cwarnic93, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, Damico, DarkFireAngel00, Mysterygirl123, shippolove844, ZoeKat13, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, AnimationLuvrs2 and Heavenly Condemned. You guys are awesome!**

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Oh Lord my head _hurt_. It felt like a jackhammer was attempting to pound its way through my skull. I couldn't have blacked out for long since Travis weight was still crushing the air out of my lungs.

"Lexi!" I heard a voice shout my name, I think it was Billy but it was muffled by Travis' weight.

Something warm dripped onto my cheek as Travis gave a gurgling cough, splattering more liquid onto my face. It took a second for me to realize it was blood.

I groaned as he was rolled off of me and feeling returned to my body; my shoulder and stomach throbbed.

"Hey, open your eyes." Blaine ordered, tapping my cheek to get my attention. I moaned again, slapping away his hand. Why did my abdomen hurt so _bloody_ much?

I opened my eyes as someone forced me to sit up, spotting Blaine disappearing behind me as Billy supported me. Blaine's hands probed the back of my head and I hissed at the spike of pain that shot out when he hit the growing bump. That damn root was harder than any tree had a right to be.

"How do you feel?" Blaine asked as he finished checking over my head and moved back into my line of sight.

"Like I've been hit by a rhino." I answered honestly. "Ugh, this was the last shirt I had." I looked down at my blood-soaked and ruined top, there would be no saving this one and all my others had been torn to shreds.

"You almost get yourself killed and you're worried about your shirt?" Billy asked, not bothering to mask his disbelief though I could see the grin tugging at his lips.

"Where does it hurt?" Blaine asked, staying all business as I tugged the shirt off, wincing as it pulled over my shoulder.

"Where doesn't it?" I responded, flinging the ruined top into the bushes. I caught sight of Travis, eyes staring blankly up at the sky and blood coating his lips. The knife hilt jutted out from his chest.

"He's dead." Blaine confirmed, poking the darkening bruise on my stomach. So _that's_ why it hurt so much. The force of Travis hitting me and the knife punching through him had dug the hilt back into me.

Even as I glanced back over to the dead man, I was surprised at myself for feeling absolutely nothing. Not relief or pity that he was gone, just _nothing_. And that scared me more than words could express. I was terrified this island had showed me so much death it no longer affected me; that I would never again feel the basic emotions of sadness and loss when someone died.

I looked away from Travis, feeling sick at my own lack of emotion. "So what's the damage doc?" I asked after a long moment, forcing myself to move on and deal with it when the time was available.

Blaine stared at me for a second, one eyebrow raised as watched my expressions. Obviously he saw my internal conflict, though it was doubtful he knew what it was about. "Most likely a concussion though thankfully minor, you'll be clear to sleep in a few hours. Probably two fractured ribs and a new bruise."

"Adding to the collection." I joked, sending him a reassuring grin.

"Since you've effectively destroyed all of yours." Billy stated lightheartedly, handing me one of his button-down shirts. I took the garment gratefully, sliding my injured arm though first before pushing through the other. Now the difficult part, buttoning it. I could move my right hand yes, but actually getting it to the buttons was a painful if not impossible task. Doing it with only my left hand was proving nearly ineffective.

Billy gently swatted my hand away, quickly doing up the buttons himself. "Thank you." It wasn't just for helping with the shirt, or giving it to me in the first place. But for being my rock, my unchanging constant who kept me going on and refused to let me give up. I wouldn't have lasted this long without him and I had no idea if I would ever be able to repay him.

He nodded, his fingers lingering on the top button before sliding up to cup my cheek. Leaning in, he kissed me, soft, gentle and chaste; it was over before it had even really begun. "Now stop almost getting yourself killed." He ordered and as I looked into his eyes I realized just how scared he had been for me.

"What can I say? It's my specialty." I replied cheekily, hoping to erase some of his worry with humor. His sarcastic smile told me it didn't work as well as I'd hoped it would.

As Blaine moved off, Scott and Billy hoisted me to my feet. I was unsteady at best as the blood rushed to my head and made me temporarily dizzy. "What do we do now?" Pete asked, looking extremely unsettled by what had transpired.

"Go back to the camp like the original plan intended." Billy stated, taking my weight from Scott as the Captain responded to Blaine's motion for him.

"And what do we do with him? He's still alive and the injuries themselves won't kill him for at least a couple of days unless he pulls out the tooth." Blaine asked, standing up from having checked over Kane.

The bastard that just refused to die already. Blaine looked directly to me when he asked the question and I could see that he would have no problem not helping the man. No one had moved to help the man with the exception of his two remaining cronies, Mike and Adam I think they said their names were. I turned to Billy, he was the unspoken leader of our group, especially now that I'd managed to get myself even more hurt.

He was silent for a long moment, looking at me before sparing a glance at the rich man. "Leave him." He ordered. I had no issues with my lack of emotions on this matter, yes we were condemning him to death, but it was no less than he deserved. As cold-hearted and sadistic it made me sound, I half wished either the Raptors or Compies came and got him. No one seemed to have a problem with this except for the men still under his paycheck.

"We can't leave him here! We have to help him somehow!" Mike demanded, moving towards his employer though I doubted he had a clue of how to help him.

"If you want to help him, go ahead. But we aren't waiting for either of you." Billy's voice had gone hard and cold, he wasn't bluffing.

Adam and Mike stared at us in disbelief, especially shocked by the fact that neither Dave nor Carter raised a voice in protest. "It's not right to leave him to die!" Adam protested.

Scott's jaw clenched and in a second he was in the young man's face, "Are you blind?" he growled, "Did you see nothing of what Kane did? He held her at knifepoint! Threatened to murder her if he didn't get his way. He's a raving madman who'd kill you without hesitation if it meant he got what he wanted. _He_ isn't right. Staying with him will only get you killed." With nothing left to say, Scott turned on his heel, giving a nod to Billy as he passed us.

With that settled, Billy tugged me around and we headed back the way we had come, hoping to reach the camp before nightfall. "Figured you'd want this back." Blaine stated a few minutes later, handing me the knife that had killed Travis. It was relatively clean, he'd managed to get a majority of the blood off and so it wouldn't attract any predator attention.

I accepted the knife with a small smile, nodding my thanks as I returned it to its sheath. It was disturbingly easy to push the thought of the knife from my mind. Instead I focused on forcing my mind to come to terms with the fact that Kane was no longer a problem. He was as good as dead and I would never again see him or hear his mad ideas. His part in all of this was over.

It was a relief that would only be topped when we were rescued from this place. We had a chance now. I glanced back towards our dwindling group, Adam was in the back, head bowed and trudging along. Mike was missing. Well, if he wanted to die attempting to save Kane then that was his choice. That left ten of us total and three days until rescue came. There was hope still, not much, but there was some.

We trudged on, the hours blurring together as the haunting sounds of the dinosaurs echoed through the trees. It was impossible to tell exactly where every sound came from and even harder to say how close they were. We were still on slight edge for what could jump out of the bushes, but there was a peacefulness, a lightness to the air. It relaxed me and set my nerves at rest, allowed my mind to be free of the weight that had settled over it. It took me a moment to realize it was because Kane was no longer with us, his rule was over and he was no longer a threat. He was no longer hanging on my conscious, and I felt more hope than I had in a long time.

For the first time I was able to put where we were behind me and not have some animal make me regret doing so. The calls that continued to echo through the thickened trees were distant and soothing. Though not everyone seemed to think so, the men jumped at every loud cry, wearily looking around and waiting for something I didn't think was about to happen. It seemed we had hit a lull in the animal's activity, they were settling down in the heat of the midafternoon and for now, we were safe. Aside from a few glances from passing Compies, we were left alone.

The peace lasted several hours as we neared the campsite, only then did I force myself to stop reveling in Billy's presence and go on alert.

Surprisingly it remained quiet even as we got closer and closer to our destination. It wasn't an eerie silence that set me on edge either, but the same quiet that had dominated that last few hours. Compies scattered around as we came across them, lightly chirping before disappearing into the brush. Cresting over the top of a large hill, the top of the dead tree peeked out over the green canopy, signifying we were close, less than a mile from the camp.

As much as I wanted to quicken the pace and get in and out as fast as possible, I knew that going slow was better, less likely to alert any possible raptors still in the area and we would be less likely to run right into a trap.

My heart pounded in my ears the closer we got, almost deafening me yet every cracked twig or crinkled leaf sounded magnified to the extreme. I turned to face the group behind me, putting my finger up to my lips and motioning for them to stop. They did so as I kept moving forward, crouched down and trying to make as little noise as possible.

Sending a quick glance behind me, I froze, glaring at the man who had ignored my orders and stayed right behind me. Billy met my look with his own 'be real' expression that had me mentally growling at him. I swear he got worse at following commands every day.

Knowing it was absolutely pointless to try arguing with him, I kept moving through the brush, not quite willing to admit the comfort I got from the knowledge that Billy was watching my back. Twenty feet from the rest of the group and nothing happened. Signaling the rest of the men to catch up, I moved a few steps ahead, checking to make sure the coast was clear before moving forward again.

Right at the edge of the camp I stopped one last time, triple checking the area and straining to hear or see anything out of the ordinary. It seemed the raptors had left and not bothered with the supplies still hanging up in the branches of the tree. In fact, it looked like nothing had even attempted to get to the bags, which put me on edge even more.

As far as I could tell, nothing was around ready to spring a trap. '_Only one way to find out.'_ Taking a deep breath, I readied myself to step out into the open, but at the last second I turned back to Billy. "Stay here." I whispered even if there was no point. If the raptors were there, they knew we were here already.

He cocked an eyebrow, stepping up next to me. "Damn it, this is _not_ the time to argue." I hissed, very tempted to smack him upside the head; maybe that would knock a little sense into the man. Probably not.

"So don't argue." Honestly the man was as insufferable as he was a stubborn mule. I really wanted to argue, put my foot down and adamantly refuse to let him come out with me. But he latched his fingers onto one of my belt loops, giving it a slight tug to tell me I wasn't going anywhere without him. Rolling my eyes, I sent up a silent prayer and stepped out into the clearing.

Nothing happened.

Every step brought us closer and closer to the dead tree, and even as my heart tried to pound its way out of my chest, nothing happened. Reaching the tree, Billy quickly hoisted me up to the first branch before pulling himself up. Everything remained quiet and still.

From our higher vantage point it was easier to see over the surrounding brush and yet, absolutely nothing seemed out of place.

"I don't believe this." I muttered, forcing myself up a few branches higher. Even at this height, where I could see the men waiting for a signal, no raptors appeared to be waiting to spring a trap.

"This doesn't feel right." Billy agreed, "But the raptors aren't here."

He was right, _something_ felt off, but there weren't any prehistoric killers as far as I could see. "Billy, how long would it take a raptor to get from that point out there to here?" I asked, pointing out to a line where the treetops and underbrush got too thick to see what was on the ground.

He caught my meaning immediately and we both kept out voices down, "About 25 seconds give or take." It wasn't as long as I'd hoped, but it was better than nothing.

Turning back towards the waiting group, I met eyes with Scott, motioning for them to come out but to keep quiet. Billy started working on the knots holding the supplies in the tree as I dropped back to the ground to talk to the men. "Alright, we need to get this stuff out of here as quickly and quietly as we can. Any loud noise and we get the hell out of here. Understood?" the group nodded, several scaling up the tree to help Billy while the others remained on the ground to catch the supplies as they came down.

I felt pretty damn useless with my one good arm, and even that one was sore and tired from being overused and abused so much. There wasn't time to go through everything and there were no longer enough people to carry everything. It would be a rush job for sure, but it was something I could do while the others did their work.

Lining up the dropped packs, I began sorting through the supplies, tossing out the useless tents and other luxuries that would only weigh us down. As I went through the supplies, my thoughts turned into a mindless buzz, my movements almost mechanical. I was _so_ bloody tired, I felt like I could sleep for days.

There was ammunition and tranquilizer darts in the bags, but with all of the guns still at the kill zone-a place we would _not_ be returning to-they were pointless and useless to us. I tossed them into the growing pile of scraps, wincing slightly as the bullets jingled against each other. It wasn't loud enough to warrant evacuation but it forced me to pause and get my focus back in place.

With a sigh I sat back, rubbing my face with my good hand, attempting to wake myself up at least a little. "You need sleep." I jumped as Scott dropped down on the ground next to me, looking as exhausted as I felt.

"Don't we all." I muttered, half-stretching before returning to sorting through the bags. The tree was now empty of our supplies and several other men started riffling through them, packing the useful stuff into their backpacks.

Thankfully we managed to get all of the necessities separated into the backpacks without major incident. "What do we do with all of this?" Carter asked, motioning to the tossed aside items.

At the same instant a loud, distinctly human scream filled the air before it was abruptly cut short, the sound echoing through the trees before finally quieting. "Kane?" Dave asked and I know there was more than an ounce of hope that it was.

"Sounded more like Mike." Adam stated hoarsely, an about-to-be sick look on his face. Well, we did warn him about the dangers of staying behind.

Raptor calls chirped up in the air, though it didn't seem like they were moving, it was only a matter of time before they did. "Let's go." Billy ordered and the rest of the group was quick to jump into action.

It was impossible to know if the raptors knew we were here or not, so we kept as quiet as we could as we gathered our packs and headed out. The first few minutes were the most nerve-grating, but as time went on there were no signs the predators were tracking us. The raptors anyway, something was causing my heart to beat exceedingly hard in my chest, it almost felt like my whole body was rattling with each beat.

One of the large fronds on the palm tree ahead of me fell from the tree and it was then I realized it _wasn't_ my heart and that my body actually _was_ rattling. Something was coming up behind us, something big.

Well shit.

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**Yeah, it's certainly not my best and not as long as I had originally planned, but I made a promise to bayumlikedayum to update by today so I'm sticking to that! NEXT CHAPTER I promise will have the scene that everyone has been waiting for! ;)**

**Please drop a review and let me know if you are still interested in this story!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**


	34. Rivers, Phones and The Nest Part 2

**Disclaimer: you all should know by now, I make nothing from this.**

**Wow, I am so sorry! I did not mean for that much time to go buy between updates! This chapter has been made rediculously long to make up for it :D And that scene you've all been waiting for? Well...read on my faithful readers who have stuck with me, this one's for all of you!**

**Shout outs to those awesome, amazing people who reviewed the last chapter: XxEyelinerHeartsxX, Itsgoose2u, bayumlikedayum, HeavenlyCondemned, FireheartNinja, shippolove844, Oblivion's Tragedy, TheVampireDiariesPwincess, Cwarnic93, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, DarkFireAngel00, Damico and AnimationLuvrs2.**

**I was going to split this into a two-parter but decided not to make you guys wait any longer for what's coming ;) Enjoy!**

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I was tempted to not turn around, to not see the terror coming up behind us ready to take our lives without hesitation. I was so tired, so _damn tired_ of running for my life day after day, hearing the screams of dying men and watching our numbers continuously dwindle. Who would be next? I didn't think my sanity could take seeing Scott or Blaine killed; it was probably inevitable on this damned island, but I didn't want to accept it. And what if Billy was the next to be picked off? I knew without a doubt I wouldn't last without him. He was my rock, my one constant that kept me going.

As long as he was there, I would continue to force my exhausted body to survive, no matter how much it begged me to give up.

So I turned despite the temptation to not, facing the thundering Spinosaur heading straight for us. The group needed no prompting once they turned as well and once again we ran for our lives.

The trees were only a slight hindrance to the beast, their thin, weak nature causing them to easily snap as the animal burst through. It slowed him some, but not enough to get us to safety.

The days without proper food, rest or water was quickly catching up to us and if it weren't for the hindering trees, most of us would have been snatched up already. As it was, a cut-short scream and nauseating crunch announced the departure of Adam. The sound pumped another dose of adrenaline into my veins but the fact my body had been using so much of it lately doused the effect. My weary body felt only more exhausted as we continued to run and dodge the trees.

I chose the wrong second to glance back, as the beast snapped his jaws out and latched around Scott's man Darrell. As sick as I felt thinking it, I knew the man's death gave us a few critical seconds to get further away.

Something hit me from the side and it took me a long moment to recognize it was Billy keeping me from running straight into a tree.

There was only so much we could do to keep ahead of the giant beast and every step burned my exhausted muscles.

Bursting through the trees, a huge Tyrannosaur appeared in front of us, snatching up Dave as he tried to avoid this new threat. The two predators roared at each other as I dove between the Rex's legs, rejoining the rest of the group as we continued our mad sprint for our lives.

We didn't stop to watch the fight and I didn't allow myself the time to consider my surprise when the Tyrannosaur's victorious roar shook through the trees.

We kept running, the branches of the trees and undergrowth reaching out to my exposed skin, scratching and tearing at whatever flesh it could reach. The constant abuse turned my arms numb to the pain, a single mercy as the numbness engulfed my shoulder as well.

The length of ground covered beneath our feet lessened as our pace slowed until finally we stopped completely. We needed to get off the ground; we had to get up the trees. But I was _so_ damned tired.

I couldn't get the strength to speak let alone climb twenty feet up a tree. So I settled for collapsing on the ground, using the trunk as support while the rest of the group dropped down as well.

Billy dropped next to me, though no one said anything for a while as we struggled to regain our breath and some semblance of energy back. We couldn't go on like this; _I _couldn't keep going like this. By all rights I shouldn't have lasted this long anyways.

"Come on, we can't stay here." Billy announced after several long minutes, standing up, he tugged me along with him, keeping a steady arm around my waist as my legs refused to hold my weight.

I really wanted to argue with him, tell him we could stay right here, we didn't have to move for a few days. But I couldn't do that; I couldn't think of just my own body's pain, people's lives were at stake here.

As impossibly difficult as it was, I forced myself to turn my mind away from the pain and exhaustion and hold myself up. "Where are we going now?" Pete asked, hoisting Carter to his feet.

"The river's nearby, if we can reach the coast we might be able to signal a plane." Billy stated as I recognized the sounds of the water I'd previously believed was white-noise in my head.

"How many days until Kane's men get here?" Blaine spoke up as he came up beside me, nursing a cut forearm.

"Three." Maybe. I wasn't completely sure I'd counted right; all of the days just seemed to blend together.

"We need to find some way off this island, we aren't gonna make it another three days." Scott stated, he was right and we all knew it. Luck had kept us alive this long, it was only a matter of time before it ran out.

My shoulder throbbed as I shifted my pack and I wondered if the wound was getting infected. As good a job as Blaine had done patching me up, I wore the same bloodied bandages for days. _If _I made it off this island I'd be lucky to keep my arm.

"Follow the river to the coast? How does that sound familiar?" I muttered to myself, Billy heard me anyway and grimaced. Neither of us had remotely good experiences with the river.

We started out again, every joint and muscle- hell even my _bones_ -begging for me to stop moving. I forced myself to focus on every step to attempt to block the pain, wishing there would be a boat waiting for us when we reached the water.

There wouldn't be, of course. The only boat that had been there was currently resting on the riverbed downstream. Or was it upstream? Was this even the same river? It was really impossible to tell on this island.

Thankfully it only took about ten minutes to reach the banks and though no boat was waiting for us, a particularly yellow box was jutting out of the muddy shore. Billy leaned down, pulling the object up. Hope flashed across his face and I couldn't help but feel my spirits lift just a little when I recognized it as the satellite phone Alan had used to get us off this island the first time.

I held my breath as Billy tried to turn it on, praying it had been off and out of the river long enough to have regained some sort of charge. Reaching Billy's side, I sighed as the phone refused to turn on.

Billy wouldn't give up though, smacking the phone a few times before tearing the back open and pulling the battery out. Using the driest-and cleanest-part of his shirt he wiped the battery and inside of the phone off before jamming it back together.

Hitting the power button again, we were all tense for a long moment as the phone still refused to do anything. Damn it all, it wasn't going to work.

Billy smacked the phone in frustration, swearing slightly under his breath, jamming the button a few more times pointlessly. _Beep._

I froze as we all looked down surprised at the phone. It had turned on! It was working! If we could get a call out to someone then we had hope left!

"It won't last long; I hope you know who to call." Scott stated as he came up to us, catching sight of the flashing battery logo on the phone's screen.

Billy had already started punching in the numbers and had the phone to his ear before Scott had finished. I _really_ hoped whoever he called picked up quickly, because I doubted the phone had enough juice to make another call.

"_Hello?"_ the voice on the other end came through loud and almost clear and I couldn't help but latch my good arm around Billy's waist in an excited half-hug. He returned the gesture, letting his hand settle on my hip and keeping me pinned to his side. It helped keep my standing and I wasn't about to complain.

"Alan!" the relief flooded all of us, even those who had no idea who Alan was; but we'd reached someone off the island, someone who wasn't being paid by a dead man.

_"Billy? Where the hell are you? You were supposed to meet me at the…"_ the phone beeped in warning. It was about to die, for good.

Billy cut off the older paleontologist, "We're on Sorna. This thing's about to die but we need help now, can you send rescue?"

The phone beeped again as it died, losing reception with Alan in the process, _"How…get there? …can't…do…there…send…get…coast…" _the phone beeped one last time before shutting off. It was utterly useless now.

But we'd gotten word out, we'd reached Alan and now he knew where we were. There was a chance, a hope that rescue would come in less than three days. I gave Billy my first hopeful smile in days, the relief temporarily numbing the exhaustion and pain. He returned my grin before planting his lips on mine, tugging me fully into his chest.

"Sorry to break up this happy moment but what's the plan now? Where would Alan send rescue to pick us up?" Blaine asked, picking up the phone Billy had dropped at some point and tucking it away into his backpack.

Alan's last message hadn't been perfectly clear, but Billy and I had heard one word loud and clear; and we'd learned exactly what Alan would want us to do the first time around. "The coast." We said simultaneously, the euphoria the hope was causing was impossible to ignore. Our escape was coming, this fiasco was almost over.

Since the phone was found on this river's banks, we figured following it to the coast would spit us out in the same place we'd come out on the first time; which was more than likely the side Alan would be sending the rescue if he could.

Of course there was that nasty _if._ _If _he could convince someone out here, but I refused to allow that thought to settle in my mind. This was _Alan_, even if he personally couldn't; he had Ellie he could go to. Somehow, someway, he would get help to us.

With lifted spirits we started down the river, keeping along the banks edge; close enough to move into the trees or the water should the need arise. The sun was setting, closing yet another day on the island. We decided to stop and make camp where the bank edge sat almost twenty feet above the river. It was the least likely spot for the dinosaurs to approach the water from and so provided the most safety. Even so, a watch was set up; two man teams would rotate shifts. I tried to volunteer for the first shift but Billy refused, assigning himself and Scott to the first watch. He then agreed to wake me after and I would sit watch with Blaine, Joseph and Carter would follow with Pete taking up the last watch.

Begrudgingly I let Billy have his way and settled down for some sleep as he and Scott quietly started up a conversation a few feet off. I was out before I'd even gotten comfortable.

When I was woken up I couldn't help but be supremely annoyed and just a little mad. It wasn't dark still; the rising sun was lighting up the world and undeniably announcing dawn had arrived.

"Damn it Billy, why didn't you wake me up?" I asked, moving to cross my arms before a painful twinge from my shoulder advised that wouldn't be such a good idea.

The man didn't look guilty in the least, "Blaine and I agreed it would be better for you to sleep."

"I was supposed to keep watch like everyone else." I growled, just because I was injured did _not_ mean I was incapable of pulling my weight or needing special treatment.

"Yes, but unlike everyone else you were _shot_." He was attempting to get me to see 'reason' but I wasn't having it. Shot or not I couldn't stand feeling useless, and not keeping watch was exactly that. Billy must have sensed my thought process-probably by the withering glare I had yet to release him from-because he tossed his arms in the air before stepping _very_ close to me. "Damn it Alexa, stop trying to take care of everyone!" lowering his voice so the others couldn't hear him, Billy moved closer, lowering his forehead to rest against mine, "Let someone look out for you for a change." He was so quiet I almost didn't hear him, his close proximity and eyes begging for me to understand and forgive him didn't help my cognitive processes either.

No matter how hard I tried to stay annoyed, I could feel my resolve breaking and slipping away, almost completely shattering as his hands slid to rest on my waist. "I'm still mad at you." I replied, though the conviction in my voice wasn't nearly as strong as I'd hoped it would be.

His lips twitched as he fought a smile, "I know."

"It better not happen again." His lips twitched again and I was finding it that much harder to concentrate.

"Never." It wasn't right that this man could be so distracting.

He moved in closer and I couldn't stop the smirk as a plan came to mind. It wasn't much of one, but perhaps it would be enough to teach him _something_. His lips were millimeters from my own and it was oh so tempting to close the gap and kiss him. It took every ounce of willpower to let my smirk turn into a full-blown smile and walk away.

The loss of his heat was immediate and I almost regretted it. Glancing back at him, I decided the confused look on his face was completely worth it.

"That wasn't very nice." Blaine stated as I walked past him, though the grin he wore said he found it as humorous as I did.

"No, but he deserved it. And you." I jabbed my finger into his chest, "are just as guilty as he is."

Blaine shrugged as he shoulder his pack, pushing off of the tree he'd been leaning against and starting down the river, a guilty look noticeably absent from his expression. "You needed the rest. Whether you want to admit it or not, you aren't Wonder Woman Lexi, and you are hurt worse than the rest of us. Take the extra sleep; besides you were starting to look like a zombie yesterday." The grin he sent to me lifted the mood as I lightly smacked his shoulder.

"Ha, ha, ha. Because you looked so much better."

"I always do." He dodged as I swiped at him again, smart ass.

Everyone was in higher spirits as we moved on; rescue was so close we could picture it. It was amazing what one night of peaceful sleep and hope could do to reenergize people. We walked faster than we had in days, quiet words being exchanged as the men discussed what the first thing they would do when they reached the mainland. Predictably, they spoke of food, and the delicious meals waiting just a few hours across the ocean for them.

"I'm getting a giant steak, preferably the whole cow, well done." Carter mused, licking his lips at the very thought.

"No way man, a big, greasy cheeseburger, with all the toppings and a cold beer." Joseph argued, looking up into the sky with a wistful expression.

"I'm getting both." Pete spoke up, a wide grin on his face as the two older men paused to look at each other before whole-heartedly agreeing. Steak, burgers, fries, beer and anything else they could eat.

As the guys continued to talk of food-which was increasingly making me hungry- I noticed Scott staring off ahead of him, his mind seeming to be off a thousand miles away. "What about you Scott? What are you going to do when we get home?" I asked, not expecting his answer to be related to his stomach.

I wasn't proven wrong, "I'm gonna find Whitney. Tell her what I should have told her years ago." The way he said her name, the expression on his face, told me exactly what he was talking about. I remembered that night on the ship, as he'd told me to take the 'leap of faith', how the sadness that had radiated off of him spoke of his experience, of his regrets. And now he was determined to fix those mistakes.

There wasn't anything I could think of to say, so I settled with a gentle squeeze of his shoulder and a smile. Whitney was a lucky woman to have a guy like Scott willing to look out for her.

My thoughts turned to Billy as I thought of this morning, he was only looking out for me and I'd snapped at him for it. It wasn't something I was used to and honestly I'd had no idea how to react, so I just…reacted.

Something nudged my arm and I turned to see Scott grinning at me, nodding his head in Billy's direction. "I better be invited to the wedding." I told him as I began to move away from him.

"As long as I'm invited to yours." He replied easily.

I laughed, "Slow down there Scotty, we're not there yet." Frankly the idea of marriage terrified me; it wasn't something I thought I'd ever have to face and so had banished the idea far from my mind.

The captain gave me that knowing-smirk, "You will be." And then he dropped back and picked up conversation with Blaine and Pete, leaving me to fall in stride with Billy, pondering over his words. Could I see the rest of my life with Billy in it? Well, I couldn't really _not_ see him there, he'd become too much of a constant to imagine him not there.

"I'm sorry, for earlier. And thank you." I said, linking my hand through his as we walked.

"Anytime."

We all fell quiet, relishing in the peace that had enveloped us and praying it would last.

Surprisingly it did, and as the minutes continued to tick by we kept our even pace along the river, waiting for the coast to come into view.

Eventually we came upon a large thicket of twisted vines intertwined through down trees and were forced to leave the water's edge. I had to wonder what caused such a mess that it was impassable to even the smaller dinosaurs. The Compies were the only ones small enough to squeeze into it yet none of the little animals were to be seen or heard in the area.

The deeper into the trees we went, the eerier the quiet got, until all of my senses were set on alert and attempting to pinpoint what had my nerves so frazzled. Our speed slowed without a word being said, everyone was tense as we moved, not having a clue what may or may not be ahead of us.

It was the rustle of the bushes that gave us our only warning before Pete screamed in pain. I couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me, it just wasn't possible. "Damn cockroach just won't die." Blaine growled.

Richard Kane was hardly recognizable from the man who'd talked to me on the pier, now covered in mud and blood, with a psychotic gleam in his eyes I'd never seen in a person before. He held Pete in front of him like a shield; arm tight across his neck with the Tyrannosaur tooth I'd stabbed him with coated in fresh blood and pressed against the boy's side.

Pete could hardly keep his footing, attempting to put pressure on the gaping wound now in the side of his chest. We couldn't do a thing as Kane started rambling; prodding Pete with the tooth every time someone moved the slightest bit.

"I found it! I did! The nest. The new nest. I'm not leaving without it. You're getting it for me. You'll do as I say. You'll do it, or I'll kill him. I swear I'll kill him. And if you still refuse, I'll kill dear Alexa. Then the traitors. You'll see. I will. I swear I will." His voice rose in pitch as he continued, switching between muttering and shouting and making very little sense. One thing was for sure, he was crazed and willing to murder to get what he wanted. Once again, we were left with no choice.

Pete struggled to breathe, his body shaking as the injury revealed its full damage. The tooth had punctured a lung, if not nicked his heart. There was blood, so much of it pouring out of the injury. He wasn't going to make it, not with Kane keeping everyone at least ten feet away from him.

Scott slowly moved forward when Kane wasn't looking at him, he and Pete in a stare down, communicating without words. The looks were loaded with meanings I couldn't hope to place, but a bad feeling settled deep in my gut when Scott gave a slight nod.

The captain turned to me, his voice low enough only I could hear him, "Her name is Whitney Corinth, tell her what I couldn't."

"Do it." Pete wheezed, his skin turning sickly pale remarkably fast, there was no hope for him, he only had moments left.

"I'm sorry Pete." Scott's stance, the look, his words, it all clicked into place a second too late.

"No!"

I tried to reach him, to stop him from doing something so heroically idiotic. But Scott had already launched himself forward, tackling Kane and Pete and disappearing with them into the ferns.

Too late we reached the brush they had fallen through and realized exactly what Kane had been talking about.

On the other side of the thick plants was a steep embankment, almost twenty feet down of slick, steep muck that would be impossible to climb up. The three men lay unmoving at the bottom, surrounded by nests.

At least a dozen were dug into the ground, empty save for the broken eggshells that littered the entire area.

"Dear God." Blaine muttered as we all took in the sight. It was the raptor nest, seemingly empty but not for long. The imprints around the nests suggested the animals had been there an hour ago at most.

"Scott!" it was almost pointless to shout to the men, none of them had yet to move and we couldn't stay around long. "We have to get them out of there." We had to do _something_, there had to be a rope in one of the packs we could pull them out with.

It felt like an eternity had passed before Scott moved, groaning as he rolled away from Kane. The Tyrannosaur tooth stuck out from his thigh and even from the top of the ridge I could see the blood spurting out around it. It had struck an artery, and the likelihood of getting any of them out just crashed to near impossible.

Scott pulled himself over to his crewman, feeling for a pulse as the young man remained unresponsive. "He's dead." He told us, the hitch in his breath relaying just how much pain he was in.

Finding a rope, I tossed one end down to the captain, securing the other end in my good arm as the others grabbed onto it as well. "Just go! You know I won't make it so get your asses out of here!" Scott ordered, refusing to grab onto the rope and instead leaned against the slope, panting as the blood continued to pool around him.

I could see it on Blaine's face, on Joseph's, Carter's and even Billy's, the resignation that there wasn't anything we could do to save him. Even if he got out of the pit, an injury like that would make using his leg impossible and he would bleed out in only a manner of hours. "No damn it! Grab the rope!" I wasn't going to give up; I refused to leave him there to die.

"Get her the hell out of here!" his demands were snarled, hands clamped tight around his thigh but doing little to stem the flow.

"Lexi, we have to go." Blaine didn't want to, I could see it clearly on his face, but he felt we had to. We had to leave a good man to die.

Damn it all, no! I refused to lose anyone else to this island, I wasn't going to stand by and do nothing. "I'm not leaving! You're getting out of there if I have to bring you up myself!" my eyes stung and my body shook, I couldn't do it. I couldn't watch another life disappear in front of me. I couldn't stand to hear another man scream as he was killed by some monster.

"Go!"

"Grab the fucking rope!" I didn't care if I was shrieking at him, or that my vision was blurring or that my entire body was violently trembling. All I cared about was getting Scott out of there, to save a good man's life. He needed to find Whitney himself, he had to tell her he loved her.

"The adults will be here any second, get out of here!" Scott's face set in determination, his hand gripping the edge of the tooth still sticking out of his skin. With a short yell he ripped it out.

"No!" I lunged forward, losing my footing on the slick slope and would have joined the captain at the bottom had Billy not grabbed onto me at the last second, hauling me back over the edge.

With the tooth no longer stemming the flow, the blood poured out like some cheap sci-fi horror movie. Only this was real, sickeningly too real as I was forced to watch Scott lean back against the dirt with a sigh, closing his eyes and paying us no attention. He was dying and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

My own helplessness was overwhelming and my knees hit the ground, the rope falling slack in my grip as the task of breathing suddenly became difficult. This wasn't right, this wasn't fair. Such a good man shouldn't be fated to this end, he doesn't deserve to die! If anyone deserved death it was the bastard that put us all here.

Said man was slowly moving, clambering to his feet in short, jerky movements. The raw hatred and loathing I felt for the man made me wish he would spontaneously combust, or catch on fire or _something_ that would give justice for all that he did.

He didn't start sparking, but he did start cooing at the small shapes hiding in the brush around the nests. The infant raptors were still here, cautiously stepping out to Kane and chirping. Kane launched forward, wrapping his hands around one of the babies and picking it up, eliciting a horrible, terrified screech from the thing. Several others swarmed his feet, nipping at his ankles and attempting to climb up his legs. Holding the infant by the throat, Kane kicked out at those around him, sending one cracking against a tree trunk.

One of the younglings opened its mouth, but the sound that came out was decidedly not from the animal.

Richard Kane was slammed into the ground by the alpha female, her killing claws digging dangerously into his legs. Kane's screams only exciting the infants as the female stepped off and backed away, cooing to the young.

Without much hesitation, almost thirty velociraptor infants launched out of their hiding places, landing on Kane and digging into his skin with their underdeveloped claws and teeth. The man thrashed about, screaming and shouting for help. Rolling over, he squished one baby underneath his body. The cut-off squeak avenged by a male raptor who bit into Kane's stomach and tore it open. Immediately the young animals renewed their attack, their guardians content to allow them their first kill.

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**And so ends the life of Kane (finally). Please drop a review and let me know what you think! I will try not to let so much time go past before the next update. Also, winter quarter has started back up and I'm taking a fiction writing class, so hopefully my writing will improve :) To those that have stuck with me (and actually read these) I give a huge thanks to you! _Please _let me know your reactions throughout and to this chapter in a review, those let me know what I'm doing right and what I need to change!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**Also, there is a new poll up for any fellow Transformers fans out there, so go vote on who's your favorite Autobot!**


	35. We're Not Gonna Fall

**Err...hi? I'm soo sorry for making you all wait so long! College and a general lack of inspiration kept me from finishing this in a timely manner but alas! I have completed the next chapter of this story and it is here for you all to read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: You all know I don't own this.**

**This chap is for the amazing reviewers of last time! AnimationLuvrs2, Itsgoose2u, Damico, FireheartNinja, shippolove844, XxEyelinerHeartsxX, Destined2RunWithTheWolves, marriedharrypottercast, Oblivion's Tragedy, DarkFireAngel00, Supernaturalxfan172, bayumlikedayum, WiseGirl-AC and Mysteriousonlooker. You guys rock and I really don't deserve you! Enjoy the chapter!**

**Recommend you listen to We're Not Gonna Fall by Daughtry while reading this chapter, I think it fits rather well.**

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I stumbled along as Billy forced me away, my legs shaking and barely managing to hold my weight. His arm secured around my waist was all that held me up and kept me moving. My eyes blurred so much I could hardly see where we were going.

Was there really a point to running like this? The raptors would be on us in no time, of that there was no doubt in my mind; we were only delaying the inevitable. It didn't matter if Alan was sending help, Kane's final act of madness had doomed as us all.

"Don't do it Lexi." Billy muttered in my ear, pushing me further along.

"Do what?" I mumbled, the words slurred and barely coherent.

"Don't give up just yet, there's still some hope for us." As if to contradict his words the call of the raptors sounded somewhere behind us, loud and urgent. They didn't want the rest of us getting away, and they were going to make sure we didn't.

"Damn it." Blaine cursed, picking up the pace. It didn't seem to matter that danger was once again right behind us. My adrenaline was drained, overused to the extreme in the last few days. I wanted to stop, I wanted to curl up and sleep for a month.

But Billy in all of his saving grace refused to let me, refused to relinquish his grip from my waist and continued to half carrying me along. It was enough to partially snap me out of the fog Scott's death had put me under, I no longer cared if I made it off this island, but I'd be damned if I let Billy be killed because of me.

In the distance, a dull roar resounded through the trees. Constant and changing in pitch in a specific rhythm. The ocean.

"Come on, we're almost there!" Blaine encouraged, his word's effect cut short as the raptor's calls sounded close behind us.

I willed up every last ounce of energy I had left, pushing myself to move faster, to not hold Billy back. A flash of leathery-skin in the brush was all the warning we had before Carter was taken down with a scream and snap of jaws.

They weren't bothering with stalking or setting traps. The raptors just wanted to kill us. And they were going to take down whoever they could reach.

The tree line marking the beach was fast approaching, and more raptors were getting closer and closer to us. When we broke onto the sand, there was no one waiting for us. No man with a megaphone, no helicopter. No rescue.

"In the trees!" Billy ordered, hoisting me up towards a branch before I'd even fully processed what he'd said. Grunting, I hauled myself up, swearing as my shoulder ached in protest.

Billy and Blaine came up right behind me, turning to help Joseph up as our hunters caught up to us. Just as they got him off the ground the raptors burst into the area, latching onto Joseph and dragging him back down.

Another took advantage of Blaine's arm still holding onto the man and leapt up, teeth raking the skin off of his forearm but unable to get a grip. The injury forced Blaine to let go and Joseph screamed for an agonizingly long minute before falling silent.

I was vaguely aware my body was violently trembling as I looked between Billy and Blaine. We were all that was left. Of the seventeen that had made it to the compound, only three of us were alive. And we were stuck up a tree surrounded by raptors and uncertain if rescue would ever come.

The tree's build forced us apart, on our own separate branches at different heights; so that despite our safety, there was little comfort to be found. The thin branches creaked ominously under our weight. It really was only a matter of time before they gave out and dropped us into the awaiting jaws of death below.

'_Does it even matter anymore?'_ I thought, looking below at the raptors pacing around, watching us and waiting. What was the point in sitting here? Waiting for either the branches to give or dehydration to kill me. Why should I continue to sit up here? Miserable and waiting to die, when I could just get it over with now. It wouldn't take much, just a little weight further out on the branch; I'd only have to lean forward. Just lean and in a few seconds it would be over. It would all be over; the exhaustion, the pain, the misery. All of the weariness of the world forever washed away.

All it took was dropping to the ground.

All I had to do was lean forward.

And it would be over.

A branch creaked and I looked up; my heart jumping in my throat as I saw Billy, closing his eyes as he leaned against the tree trunk, pure exhaustion and pain radiating from his body. Shame hit me and I turned away from him, disgusted with myself.

I was ready to give up, I was willing to just lie down and die. And yet Billy was going through this all with me, him and Blaine. They were as drained as I was, injured, bruised, they had lost people too. Blaine had watched his _brother_ die, and yet _I _was the one giving up. Me, the woman who had proclaimed she wanted adventure, who could handle anything. And now I had gotten exactly what I'd wished for and I was going to let it kill me.

Tears stung my eyes only this time I didn't try to fight them back. I let them fall freely as I realized how disillusioned I'd been about myself, how strong I'd thought I was, how tough and brave and damned _indestructible_.

I was none of those things, I was weak, a flame easily snuffed out. Weak and foolhardy and scared.

Damn it all I was _scared_. Scared of dying, yet too much of a coward to keep fighting.

With a sigh, I dropped my head against the tree trunk behind me, closing my eyes and attempting to wipe my mind of all thoughts. "He'll come."

I glanced up at Billy, who dropped a hand on my shoulder, "Alan will come through for us; he'll be here with rescue soon."

"I hope you're right." Blaine muttered, staring at his arm. I winced when I saw his right forearm, shredded and coated in blood.

We fell silent after that, waiting for Billy's words to come true, praying it would before the branches holding us up gave out. The raptors below split off, most heading back towards the nest but I could spot at least two still in the brush, eyes never leaving us.

Time passed at a snail's pace, every minute feeling like an hour, every creak and crack of the branches slowing down time even more.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

I jolted as the sound reached my ears, surprised I had dozed off. The branch cracked ominously and for a long, horrifying minute I thought it would give out. Mercifully it held, but the noise had attracted the waiting raptors, who let out a short chirp and stepped partially out of the brush.

"Billy?" I glanced up to see if he had heard the noise too, if I could dare to hope this nightmare was almost over. His grin was enough answer for me. For the first time the concept of rescue was _real_, it was happening and we were getting out of here.

The beating of propellers got louder with every passing second, the treetops swayed in the wind as a hulking black helicopter flew overhead. Blaine laughed as the aircraft swerved around, slowly lowering down to the beach. "If that's one of Kane's, I'm hijacking the thing."

"I'll help." I offered, grinning up at him.

"I don't think either of you have to worry about that." Billy stated as he motioned to the 'copter. Surprisingly the single bird had been joined by two giant Chinook helicopters, soldiers pouring out of them and storming onto the beach.

"Hey! Over here!" Blaine shouted, waving his arm. I wanted to cheer when they saw us, we were rescued; we were safe.

Then everything stopped.

The branches bowed under our movements, creaking and cracking with the strain before snapping with a _'pop'_ that echoed in my ears.

I didn't even have time to scream before I hit the ground, rolling several feet away from the tree. The world blurred and spun as I fought to regain my breath, every muscle burning in pain. I couldn't hear anything but the pounding of my heart and my pitiful coughs and attempts at breathing.

It was in slow motion as everything refocused, there was shouting, there was screaming, loud pops that sounded vaguely familiar and chaos as something happened around me that I couldn't get my brain to process.

And then a large body dropped to the ground next to me and it all snapped into focus. The raptors, they had never left, they had called for reinforcements; they had surrounded us the second we hit the ground.

The gunfire continued as the raptor's screeched, but did not leave. The body next to me twitched repeatedly before going still, cloudy red eyes staring at me.

Groaning I rolled over onto my stomach, forcing myself to move as I attempted to crawl towards the soldiers. The raptors continued to swarm us, undeterred by their falling pack mates.

I made it less than a foot before my body gave out, every muscle and nerve screaming in pain. Drawing on every last reserve of energy I had, I lifted my head, trying to gather my bearings and praying somehow I would find the strength to push on.

Blaine was only a few feet from the line of soldiers, one launching forward to grab him and pull him to safety. Billy was a body length from me, both of us too far from the soldiers to be reached as the raptors refused to give up any ground.

Everything moved painstakingly slow as the large male raptor charged out of the brush, snapping his jaws shut around Billy's calf. _No_. I tried to reach out to him, tried to force my body to move, tried and failed. _No. _I was helpless, unable to do anything as the raptor made a quick retreat, dragging Billy along with him. _No!_

"BILLY!" the scream tore at my throat, cracking as the raptor disappeared back into the brush and Billy quickly followed, his frantic fingers finding no grip in the soft sand.

Pain, burning, piercing pain shot up my leg. I twisted, attempting to free myself but it only served to increase the pain, tearing the skin as the raptor's jaws sunk into a tighter grip. And then I was moving, being dragged across the rough sand, unable to find anything to hold onto.

I looked back to the soldiers, who had reacted the second we had been grabbed, charging forward after us. But would they make it in time?

The raptors had us; it would only take a second for them to end us both. Green brush scrapped over my body, blocking the soldiers from view. This was it, this was the end. So close to being saved and yet here I was going to die.

The grip on my leg released and all I could do was pray they would make it quick.

More gunfire erupted from all around, the raptors screeched as they're numbers were cut down again. I chanced looking up, hope renewed as I saw the soldiers had move to completely surround the remaining raptors, cutting them down in quick succession.

And then it was quiet, the last raptor's call silenced, the soldiers looking around for any survivors. Several of the men rushed over to me, quickly tying a tourniquet on my injured leg before one of them hoisted me up onto his shoulder.

"Billy, where's Billy?" my voice cracked horribly, black spots swirling before my eyes as I fought to remain conscious. I twisted my head, attempting to get a clear view of him. I couldn't see him; I couldn't find him amongst the soldiers. I tried to shift in the man's hold, attempt to stand on my own and find him; but my body refused to respond and my head dropped without my permission

A man walking next to me put a comforting hand on my uninjured shoulder, his profile vaguely familiar but my exhausted mind unable to recognize him. "We got him Lexi, we got him." He motioned to his other side, slowing down slightly so I could see beyond him.

And there he was, using two soldiers as crutches and hobbling along. He was alive.

With a sigh I let my eyes close, allowing the exhaustion to fully overtake me, muttering two nearly unintelligible words that hardly made sense to my own mind. "Thanks Alan."

* * *

**Please drop a review and let me know if you still read this story! And alas my dear friends! We have reached the end of this journey, only the epilogue remains and I've already started on it, so it shouldn't be too long before the final update!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**

**To my fellow Transformers fans: New poll up! Please stop by and vote on your favorite Decepticon!**


	36. Epilogue Life Goes On

_**Disclaimer: Do not own**  
_

**Phew, we made it! 21 months since I started this fic and here we are at the end! Bittersweet no?**

**A final shout-out to those who reviewed last chapter, Thanks to: DarkFireAngel00, Love your story, Hawthorn Tree, Miss RaeFox, Itsgoose2u, Destined2RunWithTheWolves, Supernaturalxfan172, Mysterygirl123, bayumlikedayum, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, Damico, shippolove844, Fireheartninja, Random Fan and gennastar. **

**And thank you to all, from the bottom of my heart, who have read and stuck with this story and through this adventure with me. Enjoy the end to Lexi and Billy's story!**

* * *

_"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience by which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'" ~Eleanor Roosevelt_

Everything was blissfully numb, every sense muted to indiscernible levels, every thought peaceful and quiet. My mind replaying every happy memory it could find, allowing me to relive the best times of my life. I couldn't say why I was seeing these memories, and at this point I really didn't care. I had no worries, no fears, no pain, everything was perfect.

Then a slight jolt rocketed through my body, tingling every nerve and fiber in a somewhat annoying matter. It brought about the dimmest bit of awareness that something was off. I didn't like it. I willed the tingling to stop, hoping another shock wouldn't come. It did.

The jolts felt more powerful this time, bringing that awareness forward bit by bit. I shoved it away as much as I could. I liked things just as they were, I didn't want it to end. There was a pressure on my chest for a split second, then again, and again. A moment later a third shock destroyed my peace, making me aware of an entirely different kind of numb than before. My whole body felt cold and heavy and I couldn't even twitch a finger.

There was a dull roar, steadily getting louder and louder as I teetered on the edge of consciousness. Cracking my eyes open I couldn't recognize anything, every shape was blurry beyond comprehension, a mixture of greens and browns. Where was I?

The shapes starting coming into focus, enough I could recognize the military camo two people were wearing as they worked over me, but not enough to see any details or who they were. A light was shined in my eyes, obnoxiously bright and unnecessary. I grunted, attempting to blink away the white spots that appeared in my vision once the light was gone. One of the uniforms turned to face me, a light pressure landing on my uninjured shoulder, "Rest, you're going to be okay." It took me several moments to make out what he had said and by then my eyes were already closing again. It was barely seconds before I collapsed back into a drug-induced sleep.

* * *

**_US Daily News. August 29th_**

**_Isla Sorna-InGen's Site B Claims Lives Again_**

_First there was the covered-up InGen incident with Jurassic Park__on Isla Nublar, then the more public Site B incident on Isla Sorna-more commonly known as the infamous San Diego fiasco. And then again this last March there was a 3rd incident involving a plane crash on Sorna. Unbelievably there has been another incident involving the controversial dinosaur islands. Once again Isla Sorna and its InGen owners are under harsh scrutiny from local governments and the public as the death toll on the island continues to climb. This latest stunt involved previous Sorna survivors: tour guard Alexa Baker, paleontologist Billy Brennan and trophy hunter Roland Tembo. The incident also included Dynasty Industry's CEO Richard Kane. Kane and Tembo, along with an unconfirmed number of others, perished on the island. Baker and Brennan are reported to have both survived though sources say their injuries were numerous and both remain in intensive care at an undisclosed hospital._

_ A full scale investigation has been launched to find out just what happened on that island. Rumors are of a third survivor though this has been neither confirmed nor denied by Dr. Alan Grant, who prompted, organized and led the rescue to the very island he himself had been on months before._

_ The question everyone is asking now is what will be done about the islands? Animal activist and dinosaur enthusiast alike claim the dinosaurs have every right to remain alive and unbothered. That the solution to end the rising death toll would be better security around the islands and careful monitoring of the dinosaur's population. US and Costa Rican governments don't agree. Since the start of construction on Jurassic Park, the two islands have officially claimed over 100 lives and are suspected in the disappearance of 37 fishing vessels in the past years. The estimates of the latest incident are nearing 40 casualties. Whispers are beginning to float around of plans to bomb the islands. Humane? Unlikely. But will it prevent future incidents? Definitely. _

_~Lynnette Parker_

_ **US Daily News. September 19th**_

**_Full Story of Latest Sorna Incident Becoming Clear_**

_After spending a week in intensive care with numerous surgeries in Costa Rica, the survivors were flown back to the US, where they have spent the last weeks recovering from their injuries. Today Alexa Baker, Billy Brennan and Blaine Synova walked out of the Dallas hospital a little worse for wear but alive. Despite numerous attempts by reporters to gain the exclusive story, the trio stayed silent on the subject of their experience._

_ Meanwhile the investigation into the incident continues and the event is slowly becoming clearer though facts remain elusive. Records show the USS Darcy and her passengers were bound for Columbia, where Richard Kane's hired passengers would take him to a piece of land near the Amazon he had reportedly purchased. Further digging has proved the papers documenting the land purchase were falsified, and the ship veered off course and dropped contact with the coast on the morning of August 12th. That night a distress signal was sent out by the Darcy but the signal cut out before a location could be traced._

_ Further questioning of Dynasty Industry's employees has unveiled a rather disturbing plot. Mr. Kane had forged the land purchase papers in order to secure the ship for the voyage and personally sought out Miss Baker and Mr. Brennan for the trip, explaining that their past experience on Isla Sorna would greatly help in his mission. He then filled the ship's passenger list with his own hired men and smuggled tranquilizers and guns aboard. His plan was to ship dinosaurs back to the US to a secret facility he had in construction, an attempt to succeed where InGen had failed several years ago._

_ After intense interrogations, council members of Dynasty Industry confess to knowing of his plan though adamantly refuse having any part in it. Several members have been taken into police custody when investigators discovered they had been contacted via CB Radio by Miss Baker requesting rescue on August 16th, but did nothing when Mr. Kane interrupted the conversation and prompted them not to. Instead they sent supplies for capturing the animals by plane, sticking with Mr. Kane's plan of sending rescue a week later. Radio contact was then reported lost and unable to be retained._

_ Nothing further was heard from the survivors until the evening of August 20th, when Mr. Brennan was able to find and get working a satellite phone left behind during the previous incident. He contacted close friend, Nublar and Sorna survivor Dr. Alan Grant, whom immediately set to work orchestrating a rescue. Contact was once again lost until the afternoon of the 21st, when the rescue team landed on the island via helicopter, valiantly fought off a pack of vicious Velociraptors and rescued the remaining three survivors._

_ Investigators continue to work diligently to uncover all of the facts, including the very disturbing report of Miss Baker sustaining a gunshot wound while on the island. Until more information is released one can only speculate what happened in the almost nine days they were trapped in that place._

_~Lynnette Parker_

**_ Weekly World News. March _**

**_US Bombs Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar; InGen and Dynasty Industries Disbanded_**

_Once again the dinosaurs have become extinct, as they should have stayed. The Coast Guard and Costa Rican government have spent the last weeks clearing any and all boats away from the islands, keeping them on severe lockdown for miles in every direction. No one and nothing was getting close as the US prepared the bombers. The dinosaurs' days were numbered. On March 15th, the US launched over 20 Air Force bombers, dropping thousands of pounds of explosives on Nublar and Sorna. Reports indicated bombs were also dropped on the other islands making up Los Cinco Muertes. The dinosaurs are gone and the islands have been reclaimed by the sea. The US government announced that anyone found attempting to recreate a dinosaur will suffer severe consequences, including life in prison and multi-million dollar fines._

_ InGen Industries has been disbanded. The company broken apart and shut down in every way possible. There is no possibility of it returning to the empire it once was. InGen, like its dinosaurs, has become extinct._

_ Richard Kane's company, Dynasty Industry, has also been shut down and torn apart in the investigations since the August incident. Further digging has prompted detectives to go further with their investigations as more criminal activity committed by Kane and his board members is uncovered. Police refuse to be specific on charges until sufficient evidence has been gathered. No doubt they will find plenty of it._

_~Nikki Stone_

* * *

I sighed as I tossed the newspaper aside, leaning against the grill of the black truck and soaking in the little heat the early spring sun provided. My shoulder gave a dull ache as I stretched, the cold air settling into healed bones. I absentmindedly rubbed the spot where the bullet had pierced. The doctors had said it was rough going when I arrived, despite the wrappings it had gotten infected and mixed with the fatigue, dehydration and blood-loss, well, I was lucky to be alive. I barely got to keep my arm, any worse and they would have had to amputate it.

"You're early." I glanced over at the familiar voice, grinning as I pushed away from the truck and wrapped the man in a hug.

"You know me Blaine; I can't stand doing what's expected." He pushed me back to arm length, giving my appearance a critical eye.

"Well you don't look too bad for someone who had to be brought back from the dead….repeatedly." he grinned.

I rolled my eyes at him, taking note of the scars littering his forearm. "You don't look too bad yourself." In fact he looked a lot better than he had the last time I had seen him, the day we all walked out of the hospital almost eighteen months ago. He looked healthier; having gained back the weight we all lost living on hospital food, and white scars the only evidence of the physical injuries.

He glanced around, surprise etching its way across his face, "Where's Billy? According to all the gossip magazines you two have been attached at the hip."

I smirked at him, "You would read those."

"Hey now! It's hard not to when you two are on the front page."

I raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?" Sure our story wasn't the most usual, but it hardly constituted front page news, then again, gossip magazines weren't the most reliable for posting relevant and important information.

"Yup." He smirked, slapping an outdated magazine into my hands. "So where is he?"

"He's going to meet us at the restaurant, said he had something to do first." I glanced down at the magazine cover, eyebrows shooting up at the pictures splattered across the entire front page. They were amateur photographs of us at the gun range three months ago, when I was teaching Billy to shoot per his request. The shots were of me correcting his stance, berating him to pay attention when he had leaned over and stolen a kiss. I rolled my eyes, tossing the magazine back to Blaine. "People really need to get a life if the best thing they think to do is butt in on mine."

Blaine shrugged as he chucked the thing into the trash, "You're famous now Lexi, get used to it."

"Why aren't _you_ famous then? You survived just as much as Billy and I did." I motioned for him to get in the truck as I fired up the engine, blasting the heat to ward off the lingering chill.

He smirked as he pulled himself in, "_I'm_ not romantically involved with either of you. You know people these days, always a sucker for the fairy tale true loves."

"Yeah, yeah." I muttered, swinging out of the parking lot of the hotel and heading towards the modest diner we were all meeting at.

"So how have you been?" Blaine asked after several moments, looking around at the rather flat Montana scenery. There was a serious undertone in his voice, an almost desperation for an answer. He wasn't asking how I've physically been; he was asking how to deal with the mental trauma, the invisible wounds that would never truly heal.

I sighed, wishing I could give him the response he was looking for, "Surviving. Focusing as much as I can on the future. We can't change the past, no matter how much we want to, so there isn't much use in living in it."

He nodded, turning his attention back to the landscape. I glanced over at him, seeing the pain etched across his face. Physical injuries would never compare to the mental ones, and while I lost comrades, it was nothing compared to what he lost. He had to _watch_ his brother die, and I knew it was an image he would never be rid of, an ache that would never dull and a wound no doctor could heal. "Surround yourself with the ones you love Blaine, it's easier when you have good people around you."

"Ah don't let me bring the mood down, today is supposed to be happy!" he grinned, shoving all traces of conflict from his expression.

It was less than an hour later when we pulled into the small, out of the way, country diner, where gossip magazines were non-existent and very few paid much attention to the newspapers. The perfect place for so-called 'celebrities' to get together undisturbed.

Alan Grant's rather infamous beat-up brown truck was one of the ten cars in the parking lot and I was willing to bet Ellie Sattler had come with him. Being a fellow female survivor of the dinosaur islands had created a friendship the second we met and that bond had alerted me to her divorce the moment it happened, along with the fact that she still carried a torch for Alan—not that she would vocally admit it. I hoped for both their sake they got together soon, based on Billy's stories it appeared they'd been dancing around each other for long enough.

We entered the diner, easily spotting Alan and Ellie at the large corner booth. The Kirby's were there as well, a shiny new diamond glittering on Amanda's finger. Introductions were made and I was about to take my seat when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist, holding me still as lips kissed my neck.

I rolled my eyes with a grin, pointedly ignoring Alan and Blaine's identical smirks as I turned to face Billy. "You're the only person in the world who greets me like that."

"I better be." He grinned, capturing my lips with his own before releasing me and taking the seat across from mine.

I frowned slightly as I fully took in his expression. He looked…nervous. "Everything alright Billy?"

"Perfectly." He avoided my eyes, taking a too-big drink of his water and starting up idle conversation with Eric. I let it go for now, after all, Blaine was right, today was supposed to be happy. I could harass him about what was wrong later.

* * *

**_ Celebrity Watch. April 1st_**

**_No Fools Happy Ending for America's Adventure Couple _**

_This is no April Fool's joke folks; our favorite couple has found their fairy tale ending. That's right; I'm talking about Alexa Baker and Billy Brennan, who met on the doomed flight to Isla Sorna two years ago. Would anything have come from just that? Hard to say, but fate sealed them together when both landed back on the island that August. When they returned to civilian life, no one could get an interview with either of them. Fellow survivor Blaine Synova also stayed silent and refused to give any of us a clue of what went on._

_ So let's get to the exciting news shall we? There I was, visiting my parents in drab, dull, middle-of-nowhere Montana on March 20th, getting dinner at a little rundown diner,—though the food was surprisingly delicious and the service remarkably friendly—when a dinosaur-surviving reunion of sorts took place. Imagine my surprise when Dr. Alan Grant walked in with fellow Nublar adventurer Dr. Ellie Sattler. It was exciting for sure, especially when they sat in a booth just a few seats away from me. But that wasn't the end, newly re-wedded Amanda and Paul Kirby soon joined the couple with their son Eric, whose eight week stay on Sorna shall remain a record for the books. But the best part came minutes later, when Alexa, Blaine and Billy all entered and joined the group at the booth. It was a dream come true! America's favorite couple—and also the hardest to get in contact with—having an informal dinner at the very place I thought nothing interesting could happen!_

_ Now to what you all want to hear. The group stayed and talked for a long while, I couldn't hear about what, but there was a familiarity and friendship among them that you don't see very often. They toasted the dead, drank to the living and regaled stories of life and laughter. Just when I thought I had seen all there was to see, Billy reached across the table and took Alexa's hand. An almost expectant kind of silence fell over the entire diner and I could hear every word he said._

_ "People always said there is a special person for everyone, that sometimes you just have to look around to find them. I didn't believe them, at least until two years ago when you got on that plane." _

_The smile he gave her was so full of love and devotion it made _my_ heart melt, and a quick glance around showed nearly every woman with tears in her eyes. And then Billy got out of his seat, dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring._

_ "I can't imagine my life without you in it, we've been through hell and back and I love you more than words can express. So, Alexa Baker, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?"_

_That's right, Billy Brennan proposed to Miss Baker, two years to the day after they met, and she responded with a 'yes' and a kiss that had _me_ blushing._

_ The diner erupted into applause and a round of drinks went around with the congratulations, and for a brief moment, everyone felt like one big family. So here's another congratulations to the couple, I wish you all the happiness in the world and may you never have to worry about survival again._

_~Stephanie Fray_

* * *

Was it true love that would last a lifetime? I didn't have a clue, but I was more than ready to give my heart to him and find out.

**Fin**

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**And there it is! Their story has come to an end. Please drop a review and let me know what you thought!**

**~Black Wolf-Dog~**


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